Madame Butterfly

American  

Also Madama Butterfly

noun

1. an opera (1904) by Giacomo Puccini.

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Madame Butterfly Cultural  

1. An opera by Giacomo Puccini. The title character, a Japanese woman, is betrothed to an American naval officer stationed in Japan. He leaves for the United States, promising to return, but comes back three years later married to an American woman. Butterfly, disgraced, stabs herself; the officer begs her forgiveness, and she dies in his arms.

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Example Sentences

Madame Butterfly, first won hearts in an 1898 short story by an American lawyer, then in a Broadway play two years later before becoming immortal thanks to Puccini’s 1904 Italian opera.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2024

"Cheap Japanese products sold in the basements of department stores... The depiction of Madame Butterfly in the opera 'Madame Butterfly,' which I saw in New York," she said.

From Reuters • Aug. 18, 2022

Japanese fashion designer Hanae Mori, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly" for her signature winged motifs, has died.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2022

In 1922, at the age of 17, Wong landed her first starring role in "The Toll of the Sea," playing a character based on Madame Butterfly.

From Salon • Apr. 2, 2022

Today while cooking oatmeal she is Madame Butterfly until she sighs and points the wooden spoon at me.

From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros