Austere, elegant, and fiercely Japanese, "Patriotism" uses Noh staging to tell the story of Lieutenant Takeyama and his new bride, Reiko. A planned coup d'état has failed, and Takeyama will be required to participate in the execution of his friends. He therefore resolves to commit seppuku--ritual suicide--accompanied by his wife. Elegant, expressionistic and wordless, accompanied by selections from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," Mishima emphasizes the erotic and romantic ties between husband and wife, the physical relationship between sex and death, the ability of duty and honor to give meaning to action, and the ability of action to grant power to ideas. In keeping with the motto that decorates their home, the final actions of Takeyama and Reiko are "wholeheartedly sincere."