In early 20th-century Japan, U.S. Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton inspects the house he's rented from a marriage broker. The broker, Goro, has arranged three servants and a geisha wife, Cio-Cio-San, also known as Madama Butterfly, for him. Pinkerton is captivated by the delicate Cio-Cio-San. Her joyful singing about their wedding drifts through the air. In a private moment, Cio-Cio-San shows her new husband her few possessions and expresses her desire to convert to Christianity. The Imperial Commissioner officiates the wedding, and the guests celebrate. The festivities are interrupted by Cio-Cio-San's uncle, a Buddhist priest, who angrily denounces her for abandoning her family's traditions. Left alone together in the moonlit garden, her husband comforts her, and they sing of their love.
