Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly painted a stereotypical view of the Orient (the East), as the main theme of the opera was Cio-Cio-San begging for Pinkerton’s loyalty and love. In “The Spectacle of the Other,” Hall stated some harmful stereotypes that painted people from the East as submissive, childlike, innocent, and exotic. I focused on the music of the opera. Puccini tried to include some authentic melodies from Japan, but he used music that seemed overly “pure” and innocent by employing only whole tone scales (scales that are easy to layer with generally pleasing sounds, devoid of half steps, etc.), thus infantilizing Cio-Cio-San. The introduction of the opera itself shrouded Cio-Cio-San in mystery, reflecting Hall’s argument that the East is sensationalized because of its “mystery” and “exoticism” to people in the West. 

I’ve always wanted to see an opera, and hope to go in person one day. The fact that I couldn’t understand the language was confusing, so it was important to kind of know the plot beforehand. I think that by not understanding the words, I was much more attuned to the vocals, as well as other aspects of the genre like costume, set design, and the opera singers’ movements. However, because opera is a relatively static performance in comparison to things like theater, it was a bit easier to zone out at times.