37 pages • 1 hour read
Giacomo PucciniMadame Butterfly
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1904A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Madama Butterfly as Adaptation
Puccini’s opera is based on several sources, specifically two American works: a magazine story by John Luther Long and a play by David Belasco, both titled Madame Butterfly. There is also evidence that Puccini was influenced by the French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. The story by Long was somewhat biographical, based on his sister’s account of her travels to Japan. Belasco directly adapted Long’s story into the play Puccini saw in London in 1900. However, Long and Belasco never visited Japan themselves. Loti’s 1887 novel, on the other hand, is more autobiographical. He was briefly married to a Japanese woman, like his main character, Pierre, who is similar to the character of Pinkerton. In Loti’s version, Madame Chrysanthème, Pierre’s wife, does not die by suicide.
Long’s story, which appeared in the 1898 issue of Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, offers a different ending from both Loti’s and Belasco’s/Puccini’s. In his version, Butterfly attempts suicide but does not die. Only in Belasco’s version does Butterfly die at the end of the play. This is the ending that Puccini emulates in his opera. Chadwick Jenkins, of Columbia’s Opera Project, states:
The libretto of Madama Butterfly is one of those rare instances in operatic history where the text is actually an improvement over its sources. The dimensions of the opera, the finely etched depictions of its characters, its inexorable progress to its dénouement, and the beautiful verses and dialogue constructed by Giuseppe Giacosa all stand in marked contrast to the writings discussed above. Coupled with Puccini’s emotionally charged musical score, Madama Butterfly [sic] produces an effect at once intimate and overwhelming, a haunting portrayal of the dangers of misguided love (“Opera Project: Madama Butterfly.” Columbia.edu).
The opera went through many different versions in its first few years of being performed. Early librettos include the 1904 version performed in Milan, the 1904 version performed in Brescia, the 1906 version performed in America, and the 1907 version performed in Paris. The first version was not well received, which caused many changes to be made in the subsequent versions. After the revisions, Madam Butterfly became one of the most popular operas and has been performed all over the world.
Sociohistorical Context: Japanophilia in the Early 20th Century
Puccini’s Madam Butterfly was first performed in 1904, during a period of popularity for Japanese or “Japanese-seeming” cultural products. Japan, unlike many East and South Asian nations, had successfully resisted economic and military colonial efforts until 1853. The relative newness of Japan to Western colonization meant that its cultural products were still considered novel when compared to Indian or Chinese cultural products, as a result of the colonial exporters of those countries.
Additionally, the Japanese government of this era, the Meiji, was focused on westernizing and industrializing, as well as later seizing their own colonial possessions. These desires to emulate Western colonial power meant that Japan’s former isolationism was reversed in only a few years, with Japan establishing diplomatic relations with many Western powers, occasionally through commerce or marriage. These ambitions culminated in the Russo-Japanese War, which began within weeks of the first performance of Madam Butterfly. The war dominated the headlines of European papers, especially as Japan began to reliably defeat the legendary Russian army. This historical event likely contributed to the early popularity of Madam Butterfly, which further solidified its continuing cultural importance.
