MadameButterfly (Italian ''Madama Butterfly'') is a three-act opera by GiacomoPuccini. Based on both the short story ''Madame Chrysanthème'' and ''Madame Butterfly'', it tells the story of Cio-Cio San (nicknamed Butterfly) in 1904, Nagasaki, Japan. Cio-Cio San, a soprano and beautiful 15 year old girl, is engaged to be married to a U.S. Naval Officer named Pinkerton. He admires her for her innocence and beauty, like a young delicate butterfly, and the fact that he can just as easily pluck her wings. He only wants to temporarily marry her until he finds an American bride. They are happily planned to be married, but Butterfly's uncle disapproves of the fact that she renounced her religion for her husband. Her family disowns her, but Pinkerton comforts her.

In the next act, 3 years have passed and Pinkerton is off and gone. Butterfly is alone, and Suzuki shows up to her home with a letter from Pinkerton. Butterfly thinks the letter says he will return, and Sharpless is not sure what to say to her. He doesn't know if Pinkerton will actually return or not. Butterfly had a child back at home without him, and calls him Sorrow, until her husband comes home, saying then when he returns the child will be called Joy.

Pinkerton comes home, only to have Butterfly find out that these past three years, he's been with a woman named Kate. Sadly Butterfly accepts this, gives up her child, and chooses what she finds honorable with what she has left.

[[TrueArtIsAngsty It's an opera.]] [[DownerEnding What do you expect?]] [[WhatsOperaDoc A happy ending?]]

This opera has had countless adaptations, one with a page on this wiki being ''MissSaigon'' and ''MademoiselleButterfly''. It also inspired the play ''MButterfly'', and received quite a few references in {{Weezer}}'s album ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}''.
----
!!Tropes used by the opera:

* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder
* AsianBabymama: The main character, odd for the trope.
* BreakTheCutie: More like "pulverize".
* ButNotTooForeign: The half-American child is cast as blonde, usually.
** As the lyrics request.
--> '''Sharpless:''' Egli è suo?[[hottip:English:Is it his (Pinkerton's)?]]
--> '''Butterfly:''' Chi mai vide a bimbo del Giappone occhi azzurrini? E il labbro? E i ricciolini d'oro schietto? [[hottip:English:Who ever saw blue eyes on a Japanese boy? And the lip? And the clear golden curls?]]
* CassandraTruth: Sharpless warns Pinkerton he'll devastate Butterfly if he abandons her. Suzuki tries to tell Butterfly that Pinkerton isn't coming back. Nobody listens to either of them.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:the dagger]].
* ConvertingForLove: An especially drastic example, since a) Butterfly's family disowns her over it, and b) Pinkerton never asked her to, and totally doesn't care that she did.
* DawsonCasting: As is the norm for opera, 15-year old Cio-Cio San is never played by an actual teenager. An interesting variation occurs with her three-year old son, Sorrow, who almost always appears "big for his age", with actors around 5-7.
* DownerEnding
* {{Eagleland}}, flavor 1: Butterfly's concept of America as a land of freedom, and Christianity as the One True Faith. The composer mocks it by introducing Pinkerton with a "Star Spangled Banner" theme.
* FamousNamedForeigner: The American ''Benjamin Franklin'' Pinkerton (remember the opera was written in Italy).
* FourthDateMarriage: More like first.
* {{Geisha}}: Cio-Cio San.
* [[spoiler:GiveHimANormalLife]]: What happens to Butterfly's son.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Oh god, Butterfly is this UpToEleven.
* IHaveNoSon: Butterfly's family's reaction when they find out she converted to Christianity.
* TheIngenue: Poor Butterfly.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Several. There's one for Butterfly's father's knife as well as Pikerton's already-mentioned "Star Spangled Banner", just to mention two.
* LoveMartyr: Butterfly is a resounding example.
* MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow: The TropeCodifier for the "exotic, submissive Asian woman falls in love with Western man" plot.
* ParentalAbandonment: Butterfly's child now has a MissingMom and a dad who's got his own wife.
* [[spoiler:{{Seppuku}}]]: Butterfly's father's knife is used for this.
** [[spoiler:SpurnedIntoSuicide]]
* TheSoprano: Cio-Cio San
* UntranslatedTitle: In Italy, or any non-English speaking country. The Italian word for butterfly is "farfalla", yet the English word is used for the character's name.
* WhatHaveIDone: Pinkerton's reaction upon finding out Butterfly has waited three years for his return.
* YamatoNadeshiko: Massively subverted. Butterfly is ''supposed'' to be a "proper Japanese woman" and a sympathetic victim of Western racism. However, technically speaking she ''fails'' at being a YamatoNadeshiko, as [[LoveMartyr she]] [[TheIngenue completely]] [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden lacks]] [[SilkHidingSteel the required core of steel]]; nowadays, poor Butterfly is seen as a TropeCodifier on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_East_Asians_in_the_Western_world#.22China_doll.22_stereotype how NOT to write any East Asian female character]].
----