Message from richardrodriguez

[Anonymous]

I wanted to review the opera Madama Butterfly. First of all I think it is great that it is the story of a Japanese woman who is married to an American soldier who leaves her, and that it is written by an Italian, Puccini. Talk about multiculturalism.

I saw the LA Opera’s minimalist production of the opera a few months back and I thought it as wonderful. Of course the stage and costume design was highly influenced by Traditional Japanese Noh and Kabuki Theater. The costumes were monochromatic. The make up was white, red, and black and mask-like. The movements were very slow and stylized and quite striking. This of course in contrast to the American costumes which were G.I. chic. When the soldier returns to Japan with his American bride, she is dressed in the classic white wedding gown which is gaudy and bulky compared to the clean lines Butterfly wears.

Plot: Nagasaki. Butterfly is a teenage bride purchased for 100 yen by the American naval officer Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. He is proud that he can bow out of the marriage anytime, which he does. He returns home to America to marry an American woman and leaves butterfly with child. Also, Butterfly converted to Christianity thinking that her husband was true and faithful to her.

Eventually, three years later, Pinkerton returns with his new wife and wants his child to return to America with his wife and him. Butterfly decides that she will commit suicide and she stabs herself with the same dagger her father used to kill himself with.

Teaching potential: There are so many aspects to discuss—Imperialism, war brides, WW history, elements of tragedy. And of course Memoirs of a Geisha can be discussed and viewed.