In the satirical play Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee, Desdemona Wong is a 17-year-old going through the bane of every high schooler’s existence: the college admission process. Beyond the surface irony posed by Desdemona’s seemingly perfect life being the very thing setting her back from achieving her dreams of getting into Princeton, Yee points to a deeper issue at play. Through the character’s journey writing her personal narrative, we are brought to question the societal and self-imposed pressures that surround academic success and the pursuit of Ivy League acceptance. These pressures can oftentimes push students to tie their self-worth solely to their academic performance and even compel them to make morally wrong decisions to increase their likelihood of getting admitted.
Personally, Desdemona’s storyline resonated with me the most, having gone through the college admissions process quite recently and seen firsthand just how many of my peers embellished their applications. Many students believe that unveiling some sort of trauma or obstacle in their life is the key to crafting a successful personal statement and, frankly, the only interesting thing about them in the eyes of an admissions officer. This belief evokes Desdemona’s desire to have experienced some sort of turmoil in her life just to have something of substance to write about: “If I had cancer, if you disowned me, then I could be myself. Then I’d have a chance. Then I could say something interesting in my personal statement.” But “unfortunately” for her she’s from an upper-middle class background, sheltered from any hardships that she could exploit. This brings out another irony of the play as being privileged is seen as undesirable by Desdemona; she goes as far as to say, “I’m an Asian-American female with a 2340 and a 4.42 GPA at an elite public high school. That’s like the worst thing in the world. Nobody’s gonna want me.” Desdemona is not alone in her sentiment as many students cater to what they think admissions officers would find of interest or value, now more so than ever. This makes it easy for applicants to forgo authenticity for marketability, much like in the play, as a stellar GPA, multitude of extracurricular activities and accomplishments no longer seem to be enough to get accepted.
Moreover, Desdemona’s struggle with her personal narrative mirrors her family’s broader struggle with the loss of cultural identity. From her name to her family’s dynamic, Desdemona is completely assimilated to American culture and has dismissed much, if not all, of her cultural identity. Although the family originated in China, they have no personal connection to their roots or speak the language. Only when it becomes of benefit to her does Desdemona begin to consider her heritage for the sole purpose of exploiting it in her college statement, further underscoring the hollowness of the connection she is attempting to form. In a telling scene, she finds herself at a loss for words when coming up with hardships Chinese Americans have faced during her interview for Princeton, as she had not personally experienced any of them. In scene 19, Desdemona resorts to Wikipedia to fabricate her struggles of “discrimination, lack of access to education and contraception, [and] machismo.” Through this dialogue, Yee exemplifies her blatant ignorance in trying to paint herself as a marginalized and oppressed individual and points out her insensitivity when it comes to the people who are actually struggling and dealing with these issues.
In a twist of irony, Desdemona does get admitted to Princeton with her fabricated sob story, exemplifying Yee’s critical stance on the admission process. However, by the end of the play, Desdemona begins to see the fallacy of her sentiment that “there is nothing more important than school” once the news of getting into Princeton becomes a forethought in her journey of finding her true identity. As she ultimately finds herself grappling with the realization of what truly matters in her life, and the extent of her disconnection from it, I couldn’t help but feel empathy for her character.
I agree with you. In reading Ching Chong Chinaman I was able to resonate with Desdemona because of her struggle with college applications. However, I really like how you mentioned the fact that she has completely dismissed her Chinese identity and only uses it when it is convenient for her. Reading about how she was dismissing her heritage was very frustrating in itself, but it also made me aware of the need to preserve culture throughout generations. I can’t blame Desdemona for acting the way she has because her heritage hasn’t been heavily instilled in her; therefore, she feels like she has no ties to it. This play only made me understand the importance of passing on Chinese traditions to my kids to ensure generations down the line remain appreciative of Chinese culture even though we are in America.