Madame Butterfly

“PINKERTON (surprised at all he sees). So the walls and the ceiling…

GORO (enjoying Pinkerton’s surprise). Come and go at your pleasure / However you may fancy.”

These are the opening lines of the opera, which introduce the symbolism of the screens and Pinkerton’s character. From the onset, Pinkerton expresses interest in the look of the home, and Goro sets up the expectation that the home, and by extension Butterfly, are simply “playthings.”

“When women start to talk, / I find them all the same.”

This is Pinkerton’s response to Suzuki after Goro introduces and dismisses her. Pinkerton’s comment reveals his views of women and foreshadows his treatment of Butterfly. All women, including wives, are interchangeable.

“Almost transparently fragile and slender, / Dainty in stature, quaint little figure, / She seems to have stepped down straight from a screen.”

Here, Pinkerton describes Butterfly. She is young—just a teenager—and so has a small figure. He views her like a part of the house, that is, something to be purchased and owned.