Bondage

First performed in 1992, David Henry Hwang’s play Bondage explores the nature of human identity. It asks the audience to question whether ethnicities are an integral part of this identity, or if they are simply social constructs that we should abolish altogether. The play received widespread critical praise for its daring social themes and intimate characterization. Hwang is an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his explorations of the human psyche. He studied at Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama, and he served as a theatre professor at Columbia University.

A single act play, Bondage takes place entirely within a popular sadomasochism (S&M) parlor in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. There are only two characters. The first, Terri, is a dominatrix who has worked at the club for many years. The second is her submissive, Mark.

Partners for some time, Mark willingly submits to Terri sexually. They dress up and do role-play together. No two meetings are ever the same. Although there are sexual and erotic elements to the meetings, Terri and Mark engage in long, philosophical debates about racial stereotypes and cultural identities. These conversations are important to them both, and although Mark is Terri’s submissive, she lets him speak freely.



We first meet Mark chained to a wall and wearing head-to-toe leather. Today, Terri wants him to play a Chinese man called Mark Wong. She puts on a blonde wig and taunts him with flirtation. He tells her that they can never be together because mixed-race relationships are frowned upon, even in 1990.

Terri says that, although she notices the color of a Chinese person’s skin, she doesn’t care about it. She doesn’t treat people differently because of their ethnicity. Chinese people are hard workers with great family values, and she looks up to them. Mark notes that she must see ethnicity, then, because she has her own idea of how Chinese people behave.

Terri tells Mark to stop talking because he makes too much sense. A dominatrix, she needs an excuse to punish him and whip him. For once, she can’t find a reason, which makes her question her own identity as a mistress. Mark worries about her because Terri never falls off her game. He asks if she is okay, and she admits that she is only playing with him. Blondes have more fun and men love them. He shouldn’t question her superiority. Now that he has questioned her strength and her ability to perform her duties, she gets mad.



Mark doesn’t tolerate Terri’s game. She hasn’t beat him up yet and he is annoyed. He knows that she broke down in the middle of the fantasy and now she is trying to cover it up. He demands that she starts acting like a dominatrix again because that is what he’s paying for. Terri moans because she is tired and stressed, but Mark cuts her off because he doesn’t pay to listen to his dominatrix complain.

Terri likes this new Mark because he is nothing like the Chinese stereotypes she has heard about. He isn’t quiet or sensible, and he runs with a bad crowd. She decides to make him a soldier, but he refuses to play the part. He doesn’t want to be a true bad guy. He doesn’t know who he is or what role he wants to play. For the first time, Mark has an identity crisis.

As Mark wavers, Terri grows stronger. She takes control of the scene again, deciding it is time to start embarrassing him. Mark pays for humiliation and physical pain, but so far, she hasn’t done anything to him yet. Mark crawls around the ground, waiting for her to whip him or make fun of his body. Terri decides to play a different game.



This session, Terri wants Mark to say that he loves her. She can then reject him, mock him for thinking he is good enough for her, and whip him. She plans to make this their greatest session yet. However, she can’t make Mark say anything he doesn’t want to. This time, Mark wonders if he can dominate Terri. Terri thinks the idea is ridiculous, but she can’t deny that she’s lost control of the scene again.

Mark says that Terri is prejudiced. She assumes that everyone is inferior to her. Forgetting that she’s a dominatrix by profession, she sees she is human like everyone else. For hardly the first time during this session, Terri is lost for words. She realizes that Mark might be right; she wonders if she’s having an identity crisis.

For the first time ever, Terri reveals her body to Mark. She is a white female. Mark takes off his own leather disguise, revealing that he is Asian. Terri notes that she has never seen Mark’s face until this day, but she doesn’t notice his skin color. She knows the person behind the mask, which supersedes any ethnicity or gender.