Madame Butterfly Lesson Plan

Why does Butterfly convert to Christianity? Does she believe in the religion itself?

Butterfly tells Pinkerton that she went to the Mission in secret to convert to Christianity. She tells him that she is forsaking her ancestral religion "to make [him] happy." Furthermore, she refers to the Christian God as "Mr. Pinkerton's God." All of this suggests that Butterfly does not care about the religion itself but sees it as a means of being closer to Pinkerton and pleasing him. She, too, sees herself as Pinkerton's property and is willing to do whatever it takes to prove herself to him.

In officiating the wedding, how does the Commissioner describe the agreement between...