The former Geisha Cio-Cio-San celebrates her wedding with the U.S. Navy lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton. The ceremony is interrupted by her uncle Bonze, a Buddhist priest, who curses her for renouncing their ancestor´s religion. Pinkerton angrily sends the guests away and stays alone with his new wife in the moonlit garden. For him the marriage is a game and soon he sails back to his own country. Cio-Cio-San, called Madama Butterfly, awaits his return patiently. Years pass by. She lives with her servant Suzuki and her now 3 year old son in poor conditions, rejected by her family, with little money left. Touched by her story the marriage broker Goro, who had settled the marriage with Pinkerton before, presents her a new wedding candidate, the wealthy Prince Yamadori. All her sorrows would be gone. But Cio-Cio-San dismisses Goro and the Prince, insisting that her American husband has not deserted her. Trying to be of help, the American consul Sharpless writes a letter to Pinkerton, informing him about his son. With the intension of taking the child under his education, Pinkerton finally returns; accompanied by his American wife Kate. Cio-Cio-San soon guesses the truth. Desperate she releases the child, for his own good. To die in honor, she stabs herself to death.