Madama Butterfly
Cio-Cio San's story
Madama Butterfly is an opera by Giacomo Puccini, premiered in 1904, about a Japanese geisha who marries an American naval officer, bears his child, and kills herself when he returns with an American wife.
The title is Italian for "Madam Butterfly," the geisha's name.
The opera remains among the most performed worldwide, known for arias like "Un bel dì" and its tragic examination of cultural collision and abandonment.
Formal union between partners
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- faithfulnessDevoted loyalty maintained
- waitingRemaining in expectation
- PinkertonStoried American detective firm
yearning · unrequited · abandonment · interracial · naivety · trust · vow · wedding
Italian operatic composer
- ariaOperatic solo piece
- sopranoHighest female voice range
- librettoOpera's written words
- SuzukiJapanese motor vehicle corporation
tenor · duet · score · conductor · orchestra · intermezzo · premiere · La Scala
marriage
Formal union between partners
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- faithfulnessDevoted loyalty maintained
- waitingRemaining in expectation
Pinkerton · yearning · unrequited · abandonment · interracial · naivety · trust · vow · wedding · conversion
Puccini
Italian operatic composer
Suzuki · tenor · duet · score · conductor · orchestra · intermezzo · premiere · La Scala · recitative
geisha
Japanese arts entertainer
- kimonoWraparound Japanese garment
- JapanEast Asian archipelago nation
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
obi · shoji · tatami · cherry blossom · parasol · fan · exoticism · stereotype · lotus · pagoda
suicide
Voluntary death by oneself
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
- betrayalBreaking of trust
- seppukuRitualized Japanese self-disembowelment
harakiri · despair · heartbreak · grief · sorrow · fate · doom · anguish · downfall · mourning