Madame Butterfly

Submitted by:Gumban,Kim John B.

Section:9-INGENUITY

Submitted :Myrna S. Pekly

Date:March 11,2019
 Madame Butterfly
Submitted By:Gumban, KimJohn B.
Section:9-Ingenuity
Submitted To:Myrna S, Pekley
Date:March 11,2019
 Madame Butterfly (Madam Butterfly) is an in three acts (originally two)
by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long, which in turn
was based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll and on the semi
autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by
Pierre Loti.Long's version was dramatized by David Belasco as the
one-act play Madame Butterfly: A Tragedy of Japan, which, after
premiering in New York in 1900, moved to London, where Puccini saw it in
the summer of that year.
The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904
at La Scala in Milan. It was poorly received, despite having such notable singers as
soprano Rosina Storchio, tenor Giovanni Zenatello and baritone Giuseppe De
Luca in lead roles, due in part to a late completion by Puccini, and thus inadequate time for
rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera splitting Act II in two, with the Humming Chorus
Success ensued, starting
with the first performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia.
Madama Butterfly has become a staple of the operatic repertoire around the world,
ranked 6th by Operabase; Puccini's La bohème and Tosca rank 3rd and 5th.
An American naval officer, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, arrives in Japan to take up his
duties on a ship docked in Nagasaki. On the suggestion of his friend Sayre, he takes a Japanese
wife and house for the duration of his stay there. His young bride, Cho-Cho-San, is a geisha whose
family were strongly in favor of the marriage until Pinkerton forbade them from visiting. When they
learned that they would not be allowed to visit they disowned Cho-Cho-San. Pinkerton's ship
eventually sets sail from Japan. In his absence and unbeknownst to him, she gives birth to their
child, a son whom she names Trouble. As time goes by, Cho-Cho-San is still convinced that
Pinkerton will return to her some day, but her maid, Suzuki, becomes increasingly skeptical. Then
Goro, a marriage broker, arrives and proposes that she divorce Pinkerton, telling her that even if he
does come back, he will leave her and take the child with him. He proposes a Japanese husband to
look after her—Yamadori, a prince who had lived a long time in America. Although she has no
intention of going through with Goro's plan, she tells him to arrange a meeting with Yamadori.
At the meeting Yamadori tells Cho-Cho-San that Pinkerton only thought of the marriage as
temporary as was common in America, and suggests that he would eventually divorce her and the
baby could well end up in an orphanage. Instead, his marriage proposal offered her the possibility of
reconciling with her family and keeping her baby. Angry and upset at what she hears, she has
Suzuki turn Yamadori and the marriage broker out of the house. She then visits the American consul
in Nagasaki, Mr. Sharpless, in an attempt to allay her fears and ask his help in getting Pinkerton to
return. As her story unfolds, Sharpless feels increasing contempt for Pinkerton. She asks him to
write Pinkerton and tell him that she is marrying Yamadori and will take their son with her if he does
not return. However, she says that she has no intention of really doing this and only wants to play a
"little joke" on him. Sharpless gently tells her that he could not take part in such a deception. He
encourages her to accept Yamadori's offer and reconcile with her family.
Weeks pass with Cho-Cho-San anxiously scanning the horizon for the arrival of Pinkerton's ship.
Finally, she sees it coming into the harbor and is overcome with emotion. She and Suzuki prepare
the house with flowers to welcome him. Cho-Cho-San dresses in her finest kimono. Then she,
Suzuki and the baby hide behind a shoji screen intending to surprise him when he arrives. They wait
all night, but Pinkerton never comes. A week later, they see a passenger steamer in the harbor. On
the deck is Pinkerton with a young blonde woman. Again she and Suzuki wait all night for him in
vain. The next morning his warship is gone from the harbor. Distraught, she visits Sharpless to ask if
he had written Pinkerton and why he has left without seeing her. To spare her feelings, Sharpless
tells her that he had indeed written Pinkerton who was on his way to see her but had many duties to
perform, and then his ship was suddenly ordered to China. Cho-Cho-San is sad but relieved. Then
the blonde woman from the steamship enters the office, identifies herself as Pinkerton's wife and
asks the Consul to send the following telegram to her husband:
"Just saw the baby and his nurse. Can't we have him at once? He is lovely. Shall see the mother
about it tomorrow. Was not at home when I was there today. Expect to join you Wednesday week
per Kioto Maru. May I bring him along? Adelaide."
In despair Cho-Cho-San rushes home. She bids farewell to Suzuki and the baby and shuts herself in
her room to commit suicide with her father's sword. After the first thrust of the sword, she hesitates.
Although she is bleeding the wound is not fatal. As she raises the sword again, Suzuki silently enters
the room with the baby and pinches him to make him cry. Cho-Cho-San lets the sword drop to the
floor. As the baby crawls onto Cho-Cho-San's lap, Suzuki dresses her wound. The story ends with
the words: "When Mrs. Pinkerton called next day at the little house on Higashi Hill it was quite
empty."
Cio-Cio-san or Butterfly

The Japanese word for "butterfly" is pronounced "Cio-Cio" in Italian. The suffix "-san" is a Japanese
suffix denoting respect. Cio-Cio, or Butterfly, is a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl from a respectable
family that has since lost most of its money. She accepts an arranged marriage with an American,
scandalizing her family and friends, and converts to Christianity prior to the wedding. Abandoned
shortly afterwards, she gives birth to a son and raises him faithfully. She ignores subsequent
attempts to get her to remarry.

Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton

Pinkerton is a lieutenant in the United States navy. He is stationed briefly in Japan and seeks to
enjoy a young Japanese woman. He intends to marry her and then abandon her, believing that
doing so will do no great harm. Although he is named after the wise and moral American leader
Benjamin Franklin, his last name, Pinkerton, is associated with a detective agency and therefore a
certain amount of deception.

Suzuki

Butterfly's maid is an older woman who is one of the only people to remain loyal to her after
Pinkerton's departure.
Goro is the marriage broker who sets up the deal in which Butterfly marries Pinkerton. He profits
financially from this, and essentially sells Butterfly to the American with the full knowledge that he
intends to abandon her. He actively participates in deceiving Cio-Cio, who would not otherwise have
agreed to marry. But after Butterfly's family renounces her he is repentant enough to try to set her up
with a proper Japanese husband who can at least provide for her and for her son. The man he tries
to set her up with, Yamadori, is notorious for marrying and divorcing women. But this is the only kind
of husband a woman in Cio-Cio's position can attract.

Sharpless

Sharpless is an American working as the U. S. consul in Nagasaki. He at first tries to dissuade

Pinkerton from marrying Cio-Cio, telling him that although he believes the marriage to be just a farce
(contemporary standards did not allow explicit references to prostitution), Butterfly believes that it is
real. In Acts 2 and 3 he acts as a go-between, bringing Pinkerton's letter to Cio-Cio and translating it
for her.

Yamadori

Yamadori is a wealthy man who wants to marry Cio-Cio, notwithstanding her earlier marriage to
Pinkerton. He has married (and divorced) many times before and it is highly probable that his
marriage to Cio-Cio may end the same way. But he genuinely cares for her and is willing to provide
for her financially.

Sorrow

Sorrow is the name Cio-Cio has given to her son, who does not have a singing or speaking role in
the opera but who is a visible reminder of her marriage with Pinkerton. She tells Sharpless to write to
Pinkerton and tell him that when Pinkerton returns she shall rename her son "Joy".
Lesson:

Lessons Learned Here That Butterfly Should Not Lost His Son Just Because Of A Reason You
Should Not Forget That Being a Mother You Should Take Care Of Your Children Not The Others
Even The Father Is Not Around And Busy To Other One,You And Your Son Shoud Just Go Away
And Live Happy Ever After You Have Many Ways To Do To Protect Your Child.

Dont Pick A Man Or Leave Him If He Will Forget You In The End,Like Pinkerton Did To Madame
Butterfly.

Fight For Your Rights,Being A Woman

Never Give Up on a Dream

Rod Stewart

If there's doubt and you're cold,

Don't you worry what the future holds.
We've gotta have heroes to teach us all
To never give up on a dream.

Claim the road, touch the sun,

No force on earth could stop you run.
When your heart bursts like the sun
Never never give up on a dream.

Shadows fall, daylight dies,

Freedom never got a place to hide.
Search forever photo finish line
But never give up on your dream.

Crazy notions fill your head,

You gotta break all the records set.
Push yourself until the end
But don't you ever give up on your dream.

Now listen to me
You don't need no restrictions yeah
Oh, sing it again
You can't live on sympathy.
You just need to go the distance,
Oh the distance
That's all you need to be free,
To be free, to be free, to be free.

Sing a…