Note: In this production, the setting is no longer the little house on the hill. Much of the action takes place in the United States consulate in Nagasaki. This will cause some changes in the action, although not in the words or the music.
ACT I: The United states Consulate in Nagasaki Japan, at the turn of the
century
The set is divided into two rooms, the consul's office and a waiting room in
which there are a number of people.
After a brief orchestral introduction, we see the American naval officer, Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, with the obsequious marriage broker, Goro, who is showing him a model of the house he has just rented for 999 years with the option to cancel on one month's notice. Pinkerton plans to live there with his new bride, the fifteen year old Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly). The American consul, Sharpless, arrives, and as the men have a drink, Pinkerton explains the terms of his lease and boasts of the life of Yankee sailors. They travel all over the world, enjoying the best of each country, including its women (Dovunque al mundo — Wherever in the world). He adds that he will marry in the 'Japanese fashion', also for 999 years, with the option of an annulment every month. Sharpless is disturbed by this and warns him that Cio-Cio-San may take the marriage seriously. Pinkerton laughs this warning off and toasts the day he will have a real American wedding with "una vera sposa Americana: (a real American wife).
Cio-Cio-San, her bridesmaids, and her relatives arrive, joyfully singing of the wedding day. When asked about herself, the bride tells Sharpless that, although she is only 15 years old, her family has come on hard times and she has had to earn her living as a geisha. Shyly she shows Pinkerton the few treasures she has brought with her. Among them is a pot of rouge, a symbol of her former profession. She throws it away, then refuses to let him the see most precious treasure of all. Goro whispers that it is the knife with which her father had committed suicide. She also has some Ottoki, or small figurines representing the souls of her ancestors. (Butterfly says these are the spirits of her ancestors, but Ottoki are really small statues of Buddha.) Confiding that she has been to the Christian mission in Nagasaki and renounced her Buddhist faith, she throws the Ottoki away.
The wedding ceremony takes place, supervised by the Imperial Commissioner and the Imperial Registrar. As the guests toast the newly married couple (O Kami, O Kami), a dramatic figure bursts on the scene: it is Cio-Cio-San's uncle, the Bonze, a Buddhist priest, furious on learning that she has changed her religion. He curses her and demands that her friends and relatives renounce her. Although Butterfly is convinced she is entering into a true marriage in the American style, not Japanese, her friends and relatives know there will soon be a divorce. As they all leave, Pinkerton comforts his sobbing bride. In a soaring duet, the shy girl starts to grow into a passionate woman (Viene la sera — The evening comes).
ACT II Three years later
Pinkerton has long since been recalled to the United States, promising to return
"when the robins nest". Suzuki, Cio-Cio-San's maid and friend, prays to Buddha
for Pinkerton's return and an end to her mistress's unhappiness. When she shows
Cio-Cio-San how little money they have left, she is unconcerned; she is sure
her husband will return and imagines her meeting with him (Un bel dì
— One fine day).
Sharpless shows Cio-Cio-San a letter from Pinkerton in which the Lieutenant informs him that he will soon return with his real American wife. He has asked the Consul to tell Cio-Cio-San. Just the sight of the letter throws the girl into such a transport of joy that Sharpless cannot bring himself to relay the news. The scene is interrupted by the arrival of Prince Yamadori, a new suitor that Goro has been pressing on Cio-Cio-San. She indignantly asserts that she is already married; Pinkerton's leaving does not constitute divorce. After the Prince departs, Sharpless asks Cio-Cio-San what she would do if Pinkerton never returned. She replies that she might go back to her life as a geisha, but she would rather die. She goes to the other room and returns with her fair-haired, blue-eyed son, Trouble. His name will be changed to Joy when his father comes back, as she is sure he will when he learns he has a son. Completely overcome, Sharpless promises to tell Pinkerton about the boy.
Soon the harbor cannons announce the arrival of Pinkerton's ship, the Abraham Lincoln. Suzuki and Cio-Cio-San happily decorate their house with flowers (Flower duet). As evening brings darkness, Suzuki and Trouble fall asleep but Cio-Cio-San, to the accompaniment of the 'Humming Chorus', remains standing and watching.
As dawn breaks, she is still standing motionless. Suzuki awakens and sends her off to rest. As the maid prays, she is interrupted by Sharpless and Pinkerton, but her joy turns to dismay when she learns that the elegant lady waiting outside is Pinkerton's wife. Sharpless asks Suzuki to convince Cio-Cio-San that it would be better to let the Pinkertons have the child. Faced with the proof of the strength of Butterfly's unbroken faith and love, Pinkerton finally realizes how wrong he was. After singing a regretful farewell to the little house where he had once been so happy (Addio fiorito asil — Goodbye flowery retreat), he rushes away. When Kate Pinkerton comes in, Cio-Cio-San immediately understands the situation. Swallowing her grief, she congratulates Kate on her marriage, and agrees to give up the child if Pinkerton himself will come to collect him.
After sending the weeping Suzuki away, Cio-Cio-San gets her father's sword. She reads the words inscribed on the blade: "To die with honor when one can no longer live with honor". She is about to use the knife to kill herself, when Suzuki pushes Trouble into the room. Taking her son into her arms, Cio-Cio-San sobs a heartbroken farewell; she is going to die so that he might go to America and not think that his mother had abandoned him. Then, seizing the knife, she kills herself. Staggering towards the child, she collapses on the floor beside him as Pinkertons voice is heard calling her name.