Am I a Girl or a Boy -An Analysis of Gender Misperception in the Film Farewell My Concubine

Abstract

Farewell My Concubine, a 1993 Chinese drama film directed by Chen Kaige and starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, and Gong Li, is adapted from the novel of the same name by Leslie Cheung. Douzi, a boy whose stage name is Cheng Dieyi, plays the concubine Consort Yu, and his senior fellow trouper Shitou, whose stage name is Duan Xiaolou, plays the hero Xiang Yu in Peking Opera Farewell My Concubine. In life, Cheng Dieyi falls in love with Duan Xiaolou just like Consort Yu deeply loves Xiang Yu. In traditional Eastern culture and Western culture, gender is binary, that is, a person is either male or female, and there is nothing in between. In the traditional Chinese society with a dichotomous view of gender, Cheng Dieyi has a queer tendency. Based on Sigmund Jacques’ and Lacan’s theories of the Oedipus complex and castration complex, this article explores how Cheng Dieyi’s experiences of “castration” leads to his gender misperception in three aspects: Cheng Dieyi’s family background, troupe experience, and self-fantasy.