One of the most beloved classical operas with impeccably beautiful music.
Act I
Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton of the U.S. Navy has arrived in Nagasaki and rented a house on a muddy street on a hill above the harbour. Through the marriage broker Goro, Pinkerton has purchased a fifteen year old girl, Cio Cio San, also known as Butterfly. The contract runs for 999 years but can be terminated monthly by the man, just like the lease on the house.
Pinkerton and Goro go through the house. Goro introduces the maid Suzuki and tells him about Butterfly’s relatives. Sharpless, the American consul, arrives to witness the wedding ceremony. He tries to reason with Pinkerton, pointing out that Butterfly is a child and that she believes in the arrangement. Pinkerton dismisses him, saying that it is not a real marriage, that he has bought her for the moment, and that he looks forward to the day he marries a real American woman.
Butterfly arrives with her friends and relatives. She tells Pinkerton that her family has lost its status, that her father committed seppuku on the emperor’s orders, and that she has been forced to support herself on the streets. She shows Pinkerton some personal keepsakes, including small statues of her ancestors and the tantō (short sword) her father used when he took his life. She also tells him that she has secretly converted to his religion. The contract is signed and the brief wedding ceremony is carried out, but it is interrupted by Butterfly’s uncle, a bonze (Buddhist priest). He has learned that Butterfly has converted and curses her. He forces her family and friends to reject her. When everyone has left, Butterfly is alone with Pinkerton, who will finally get what he has paid for.
Act II
Three years have passed since Pinkerton left Japan. Butterfly is still waiting for his return in the house on the hill. The money is gone, and Suzuki repeatedly tries to make Butterfly understand that Pinkerton will not come back, but Butterfly denies it and refers to his promise: he will return “when the robins build their nests.”
Sharpless arrives with a letter from Pinkerton stating that he has married an American woman and that his ship is on its way back to Japan. Sharpless is unable to finish reading it, as Butterfly constantly interrupts him. The wealthy Yamadori arrives to propose to Butterfly, something he has done countless times since Pinkerton disappeared, but she rejects him, insisting that she is already married and claiming that Japanese law with its purchase contracts does not apply to her. She lives under American law. When Sharpless suggests that Pinkerton does not intend to return and advises her to accept Yamadori’s offer, she throws him out, but regrets it and runs to fetch her young son. Sharpless, who did not know the child existed, promises Butterfly that he will inform Pinkerton. He leaves without telling her the truth about Pinkerton’s marriage.
Suddenly a cannon shot is heard from the harbour. Pinkerton’s ship is visible in the distance. Butterfly prepares the house with flowers while Suzuki, who understands what awaits, watches in sorrow. They sit down with the child and wait through the night for Pinkerton to arrive.
Act III
In the morning Pinkerton has still not come, and Butterfly withdraws with the child to rest. Shortly afterwards Sharpless arrives together with Pinkerton and his American wife, Kate. They want Butterfly to give up the boy to Kate, who is childless, and they ask Suzuki for help. Pinkerton realizes what he has done and runs away to avoid facing Butterfly.
Butterfly wakes up, and when she sees Sharpless with an unfamiliar American woman, she soon begins to understand. She agrees to give up her child on the condition that the father himself comes to take him. Sharpless and Kate leave. Butterfly says farewell to her son, wishing him a better life far from misery. Alone, she takes out her father’s tantō. She would rather take her life than return to a life in prostitution.
