MADAMA BUTTERFLY

ACT I

Nagasaki, start of the 1900s. Franklin Pinkerton is a lieutenant in the United States Navy who has just purchased a house in the Land of the Rising Sun. He is accompanied by Goro, a marriage broker, and is about to marry a young geisha named Cio-Cio-San in a Japanese ceremony.

The American Consul, Sharpless, meets Pinkerton to reproach him for his philosophy of enjoying life with no regard for others’ feelings, but then toasts the lieutenant’s plan to marry an American woman in the future.

During the marriage ceremony, Cio-Cio-San is presented with her family and shows Pinkerton some of her dowry. The young girl tells Pinkerton that she has converted to Christianity, but her uncle, a bonze monk, interrupts the festivities and curses Cio-Cio-San for renouncing her true faith. Pinkerton comforts her and carries her into the house.

ACT II

After their wedding, Pinkerton returned to the United States, promising his young wife that he would return in the spring – a promise he failed to keep. 

Three years later, Goro and the American Consul, Sharpless, bring a letter from Pinkerton to poor Cio-Cio-San, who is still anxiously awaiting his return. The letter contains distressing news: Pinkerton has remarried an American woman named Kate and is going to return to Nagasaki with her. Cio-Cio-San refuses to accept this news and remains true to her marriage vows, showing Sharpless the son that was born from the brief relationship. Goro’s attempts to find her a new husband fail, and even when marriage with the wealthy Yamadori is suggested, the geisha refuses. Butterfly remains true to her American lieutenant.

A cannon blast signals the arrival of a ship in the port. Cio-Cio-San is thrilled: Pinkerton has finally come back for her. She asks her maid, Suzuki, to help prepare the house for her husband’s return.

ACT III

Butterfly stays awake all night, waiting for her lover. At sunrise, Suzuki manages to persuade her to rest, promising to wake her as soon as her husband arrives. Soon after, Pinkerton does arrive, but his new wife Kate and the consul are with him.

The lieutenant talks to the consul and discovers that Butterfly has had a son.

He decides that he wants to take the child back to the United States with him. But after speaking with Suzuki, who tells him how the young geisha has waited faithfully for him for three long years, Pinkerton leaves, struck with remorse.

Butterfly wakes and despairs after learning Pinkerton’s true intentions. Eventually, she is convinced to make the painful decision to entrust her son to the American couple’s care.

Her face lined with tears, she blindfolds her son and sits him down with a small American flag in his hand, then she takes her father’s knife which bears the legend “May those who cannot live with honour, die with honour” and performs the ritual of jigai.

Pinkerton decides to ask the geisha’s forgiveness for the pain that he has caused her. He rushes into the room but discovers a heart-breaking scene. He falls to his knees, bursting into tears next to the lifeless body of Cio-Cio-San.