Madame Butterfly and a Japanese Nightingale: Two Orientalist Texts

by Winnifred Eaton, Jean Lee Cole (Editor), Maureen Honey (Editor)

Madame Butterfly (1898) and A Japanese Nightingale (1901) both appeared at the height of American fascination with Japanese culture. These two novellas are paired here together for the first time to show how they defined and redefined contemporary misconceptions of the "Orient." This is the first reprinting of A Japanese Nightingale since its 1901 appearance, when it propelled Winnifred Eaton (using the pseudonym Onoto Watanna) to fame. John Luther Long's Madame Butterfly introduced American readers to the figure of the tragic geisha who falls in love with, and is then rejected by, a dashing American man; the opera Puccini based upon this work continues to enthrall audiences worldwide. Although Long emphasized the insensitivity of Westerners in their dealings with Asian people, the ever-faithful Cho-Cho-San typified Asian subservience and Western dominance. A Japanese Nightingale takes Long's revision several steps further. Eaton's heroine is powerful in her own right and is loved on her own terms. A Japanese Nightingale is also significant for its hidden personal nature. Although Eaton's pen name implied she was Japanese, she was, in fact, of Chinese descent. Living in a society that was virulently anti-Chinese, she used a Japanese screen for her own problematic identity, and A Japanese Nightingale tells us as much about the author's struggle to embrace her Asian heritage as it does about the stereotypes she contests.

Genres: Classics

184 pages, Library Binding

First published June 5, 2002

About the author

Winnifred Eaton is the real name for Onoto Watanna.

Reviews

[Umbreen]

I only read "Madame Butterfly." I was assigned the story for an English class on orientalism - focusing on how the West constructs the East often in inaccurate or self-perpetuating ways. (For example, a popular book describes a certain type of pottery that is found in some Asian country - let's say China. There is then a demand for "oriental pottery." Perhaps this type of pottery is not actually part of Chinese culture, but due to the Western demand, China begins manufacturing and exporting this type of pottery, perpetuating the cycle and forcing the pottery to become a part of the cultural history.)

In any case, the story was horrible to read but interesting to study from the perspective I described above. Because of this, I'll refrain from giving stars.

[Tamia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Japanese literature. Beautiful stories.

[Sami Allman · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 stars for Madame Butterfly, 4 stars for A Japanese Nightingale