Death Before Dishonor (Part 2 of 2)

All opera composers are men. Their perception of women as weak, naïve, and inferior is evident in many of their works. For example, the aria “La donna è mobile” (Women are fickle) in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera *Rigoletto* is very popular. George Bizet’s opera *Carmen* portrays a fun-loving tart and is shown yearly in most major opera houses because of the “Habanera” and “Toreador.” In 1904, Giacomo Puccini’s *Madame Butterfly* debuted at La Scala in Milan.

In *Madame Butterfly*, U.S. Navy Lt. Pinkerton arrives in Japan with the U.S. fleet and falls in love with Cio-Cio San, a geisha who becomes pregnant. Pinkerton goes home, leaving Cio-Cio San and their baby boy, reflecting the early 19th-century Western culture’s view of Asians as inferior. Pinkerton returns three years later, and Cio-Cio San’s joy turns to sorrow when Pinkerton introduces his American wife. To salvage her honor, Cio-Cio San plans to give her son to Pinkerton, thinking, “My own people despise me, so please give our innocent child a better future.” After enduring shame, ridicule, and humiliation for three years, she commits hara-kiri just before Pinkerton returns.

This theme was repeated in the 1991 London musical *Miss Saigon*, with the same villain (a U.S. serviceman) and victim (a poor bar girl trying to survive like Cio-Cio San). She gets pregnant, gives the child to the American, and then kills herself.

Alexander Dumas Jr. wrote a story, *Camille*, which became a European drama hit. Marguerite, a prostitute trying to survive, signals her availability by walking in Paris holding camellias. Armand, a wealthy heir, becomes her customer. She falls in love and tells Armand, “I will leave my job; let’s live far away.” Armand’s father learns about their elopement plan and secretly meets Marguerite, offering to buy her off. Marguerite responds, “Leave Armand? Never. For the first time in my poor, miserable, lonely life, I have found happiness.” The father argues, “What will the future of my son be with you, a prostitute? You are selfish, thinking only of yourself and not of my son’s bright future. When you are old and useless, he will leave you. Are you that stupid and cruel?” Marguerite’s world of joy crashes. She tells Armand she was toying with him for his money, and they part bitterly. Later, Armand learns the truth and finds Marguerite slowly dying of tuberculosis. He finds her in a dingy room, frail and faint, and she dies in his arms.

These narratives, repeated through various cultures and time periods, reflect the struggles and sacrifices women endure in societies that view them as inferior. As expressed in Filipino literature by Tiyo Leopoldo Fernandez Vega: “Kabus og talamayon, imo pang samaran, napukan na sa yuta, imo pang lud-an, unsa ba ang kalag mo, wala ka bay kamatayon” (“Poor and destitute, already fallen to the ground, you still kick them. What is your soul like, do you not have a sense of death?”). The stories of *Madame Butterfly*, *Miss Saigon*, and *Camille* echo this sentiment, showing the enduring struggle for dignity and honor amidst societal prejudice.