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:
readability="13">
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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