Desdemona plays at least one interesting part in the events that enrage Othello to the point of committing murder. She lies about where the handkerchief is. She loses it, bemoans its loss to Emilia, and then, when Othello asks to see it (III, iv), she says, "I have it not about me," which of course is the truth, for it is lost. But later in the scene:
Othello
Is't lost? Is't gone? Speak, is it out o'the way?
Desdemona
It is not lost, but what an if'it were?
Othello
Ha!
Desdemona
I say it is not lost.
Othello
Fetch't, let me see it.
Desdemona
Why, so I can sir, but I will not now...
And so, by lying about the fact that the handkerchief is lost, Desdemona adds to Othello's suspicion (since he will, in a later scene, see the handkerchief returned to Cassio by Bianca) and ultimately to her own demise.
Some might argue that Desdemona also shows a possibility of deceitful behaviour when she elopes in the opening of the play with Othello. It would have been highly improper and presumptuous for Desdemona to marry (from her station in society) without first obtaining her father's blessing and permission. This, one could argue, makes her open to question later in the play. If she made a move for love behind her father's back, mightn't she also do so behind Othello's back? It does potentially leave her behaviour open to question and is worth considering.
However, it is the interesting part that the handkerchief plays in Othello, and even Desdemona's own part in the events surrounding it, that push Othello over the edge and lead to the play's tragic ending.
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