Act Three (or Act Two, Scene 2, as it follows Act Two without interruption): Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep. Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton's new American wife, Kate. They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child. But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake. He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless and Kate to break the news to Butterfly. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, she then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag into his hands and goes behind a screen, cutting her throat with her father's hara-kiri knife. Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies.
The opera premiered at La Scala on February 17, 1904, but it was not successful. After a hasty rewrite, the opera was performed again on May 28 at Brescia, where it was a triumph. It has since become one of the most frequently performed operas in the world.
It was inevitable, therefore, that one day the movies would become interested.