Madama Butterfly

I went to see Madama Butterfly performed by the Elgin Opera. The singing was excellent but the low budget left the stage sparse. The Elgin Opera has been in operation for five years and did a commendable job, especially the orchestra composed of two violins, a viola, a cello and a piano.

The story is about a U.S. Navy officer, Pinkerton, who marries a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl while his ship is anchored in Nagasaki. Pinkerton is warned by Sharpless, the U.S. Consul that such a marriage will only end in disaster, since the young girl will be devastated when he leaves. Pinkerton shrugs off the warning and declares that he has intentions of marrying a “real wife” when he gets back to the states. As the marriage proceeds, the villagers and family members denounce Cio-Cio-San, whom Pinkerton calls Madama Butterfly because of her innocent beauty, because she has rejected the local gods for Pinkerton’s God. Even though she is hurt by the denunciations, she is happy to be married to Pinkerton.

Three years later Cio-Cio-San is still waiting for Pinkerton to return as he has promised her. Everyone says she is foolish since they know Pinkerton has no intention of returning. Undaunted by their unbelief, she is so steadfast in her faith that he will return she turns down marriage proposals from wealthy suitors. Every day she searches the port for any sign of Pinkerton’s ship.

Finally, after three long years, she sees his ship coming into port. She is so elated that she stays up all night waiting for him to come home, yet he doesn’t appear. Finally, the next morning Pinkerton arrives with his American wife to break the news to Cio-Cio-San, but she is asleep. When he realizes that she has been faithfully waiting for him to return, he is stricken with grief over the pain he has caused her. He cowardly runs away, unable to tell her the news himself, leaving his wife to be found by Cio-Cio-San when she wakes up. Cio-Cio-San is devastated and realizes the Pinkerton has come not for her but for their three-year-old son. She tells her son to look closely at her face so he will remember her and then tells him to go and play. As he leaves to play, she kills herself with the same dagger that her father used to commit suicide. As she is dying, Pinkerton comes to retrieve his son, finding her too late. As he bends over her dead body, the curtain closes.


This is a powerful tragedy that illustrates the pain and suffering caused by military personnel stationed overseas who get involved with local women. The U.S. military has had a dark history in this matter, but it is not alone. Every major nation that has troops stationed on foreign soil is guilty of the same crime. While the U.S. military discourages such marriages, it does not prohibit them. Commanders and chaplains should be better trained to deal with this issue.

But the morale is limited to international marriages of convenience. Many men play fast and loose with women, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind them. It is hard not to find a woman who has not been mistreated by shallow professions of love only to find themselves used and abandoned when the relationship is no longer convenient. Modern pop culture tends to support this behavior through movies, TV shows, and music while at the same time lamenting the pain of such broken relationships. Parents, teachers and other leaders need to educate young women and guard them from predatory males intent on using women and then throwing them away.