Madame Butterfly

TIME: Early 20^th century

PLACE: Nagasaki, Japan

ACT ONE

B.F. Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, is about to marry Cio-Cio-San, also known as “Madame Butterfly.” At the house he has leased overlooking the Nagasaki harbor, Pinkerton is shown around by Goro, the marriage-broker. Sharpless, the American consul, arrives for the wedding ceremony. As they drink some whiskey, Pinkerton tells Sharpless that he leads a carefree life, traveling from one port to another and enjoying numerous romantic adventurous, none of which mean anything to him. He admits that Cio-Cio-San has enchanted him, but drinks to the day that he’ll marry a “real” American wife.

Cio-Cio-San arrives with her friends, and Pinkerton is enchanted. She takes him aside to show him her few precious possessions, including the dagger with which her father had committed suicide. She also reveals that she has converted to Christianity for Pinkerton’s sake. The Imperial Commissioner and Registrar perform the marriage ceremony, but moments later the wedding festivities are interrupted by a Buddhist priest, the Bonze, who is Cio-Cio-San’s uncle. When her friends and family hear from him that she has given up her religion, they denounce her and rush away in outrage. Cio-Cio-San is devastated, but Pinkerton comforts her. After her maid, Suzuki, helps her change into her wedding kimono, she joins Pinkerton in the moonlight.

ACT TWO

Cio-Cio-San continues to wait for Pinkerton, who left Japan three years previously. She is dismayed to hear from Suzuki that they have very little money left. Suzuki remains skeptical that Pinkerton will ever return, but Cio-Cio-San declares that she will faithfully await the day when his ship will enter the harbor and she’ll see him climbing up the hill to the house to be reunited with her at last.

Sharpless arrives with a letter from Pinkerton. He is about to read it to Cio-Cio-San when they’re interrupted by Goro, who has brought a suitor for Cio-Cio-San, Prince Yamadori. Although the Prince, who has made his fortune in New York is wealthy and clearly smitten with her, she dismisses him. She tells him she knows he has married many Japanese women, and divorced them. He leaves, disappointed. Sharpless finally begins reading aloud Pinkerton’s letter, which reveals that Pinkerton will soon be coming back to Japan. The consul asks Cio-Cio-San what she would do if Pinkerton never returned. Struck almost numb with shock, Cio-Cio-San concedes that she might have to return to her former life, but that it would be better to die. Sharpless suggests that she reconsider Yamadori’s offer. Despairing at the thought that Pinkerton has forgotten her, Cio-Cio-San rushes into another room and returns holding her little son, Pinkerton’s child. She reveals that the boy’s name is Sorrow, but when his father returns, the name will change to Joy. Deeply moved by Cio-Cio-San’s devotion, Sharpless promises to tell Pinkerton about the child.

A few moments after Sharpless leaves, a cannon shot is heard, coming from the harbor – the signal that a ship has just arrived. Viewing it through her telescope, Cio-Cio-San is ecstatic to see that it’s her husband’s ship, the “Abraham Lincoln.” Suzuki helps her first in spreading cherry blossoms all over the house, then in carefully applying her makeup and assisting her as she dresses for the reunion with Pinkerton. Suzuki and the child eventually fall asleep, but Cio-Cio-San begins an all-night vigil as she awaits her husband.

ACT THREE

The next morning, when Suzuki persuades Cio-Cio-San to get some rest, she carries her son with her into another room, singing him a lullaby. Suzuki is suddenly startled by the arrival of Sharpless, who has brought Pinkerton with him. Seeing a lady in the garden, Suzuki demands to know who she is. Sharpless reveals that this is Pinkerton’s wife, leaving Suzuki devastated. Agonized by his guilt, Pinkerton rushes away. Suzuki agrees to speak with Butterfly, and Kate assures the maid that she will care for the child as if he were her own.

Pinkerton hasn’t been gone a moment when Cio-Cio-San’s voice is heard. She appears, wondering why Pinkerton isn’t there. Seeing the woman in the garden, she begins to guess the truth. When Sharpless gently asks her to give up her child, Cio-Cio-San quietly agrees, provided that Pinkerton will come for him in half an hour.

After Sharpless and Kate leave, Cio-Cio-San breaks down in despair. Regaining her composure, she sends Suzuki out of the room before taking out her father’s dagger and reading the inscription: “To die with honor when one cannot live with honor.” When Suzuki suddenly pushes Cio-Cio-San’s child into the room, she bids him farewell, begging him never to forget her face. Handing him an American flag, she blindfolds his eyes. She then goes behind a screen and stabs herself, dying as Pinkerton’s voice is heard outside, calling her name.