Othello and Desdemona's Motivations

So far in my consideration of 3.3, I have avoided dealing directly with Desdemona and her motivations. But because her motivations become a prime topic of consversation between Iago and Othello in 3.3.200ff., I need to reassess her evolving character in the play. The thesis of this mini-essay is that by the time we reach 3.3, Desdemona has provided enough information to call into doubt her sole allegiance to Othello.

Iago's Allegations in 3.3.

Iago skillfully receives Othello's confident brushing aside of concerns regarding jealousy in 3.3.176-192 with a feigned sigh of relief. "I am glad of this, for now I shall have reason/ To show the love and duty that I bear you/ With franker spirit (3.3.193-195)." In other words, 'now I can really tell you the dirt, since it will not, on your own admission, sully your hands.' The "dirt" that Iago reveals is of two kinds: one a general principle or activity in Venice and one a specific action of Desdemona. The former is a "local custom," somethat that Othello, as a Moor, would not know but that Iago, kindly, interprets for him. It is that Venetian wives are unfaithful, and they consider infidelity normal. "In Venice they do let God see the pranks/ They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience/ Is not to leave't undone, but keep't unknown (3.3.202-204)."

Second, Iago recalls a specific action of Desdemona. When she was listening intently to Othello's stories, she was, in her seeming fidelity to Othello, in fact planning to betray her father. "She did deceive her father, marrying you,/ And when she seem'd to shake and fear your looks,/ She lov'd them most (3.3.206-208)." In other words, Iago is saying 'Look, Othello, deception is in her character. She fooled her father, and she also fooled you. When she appeared to be most frightened of you, she really was most attracted to you.' To this dazzling display of ingenuity, Othello can only answer "And so she did (3.3.208)," or "I am bound to thee (Iago) for ever (3.3.213)." Othello the interpreter is way over his head when dealing with the wily Iago.

Desdemona's Actions

Even if Iago's construal of Desdemona's actions in the context of the alleged Venetian practice of feminine infidelity might easily be rebutted [fear and attraction, for example, are not mutually incompatible emotions], Desdemona herself has provided enough doubts of her sole fidelity to Othello to make one wonder. This is primarily evident through her suit for Cassio's reinstatement with which she plies Othello in 3.3.40-90. Recall that Cassio has been cashiered for drunken brawling, leading to the injury to the former governor Montano, during the night of celebration following the destruction of the Turkish fleet. Desdemona, for reasons not altogether clear, decides to take his case to Othello for reinstatement. Twice she is called the "captain's captain" or the "general's wife" who is "now the general (2.1.74;2.3.315)," which leads us to suspect that Cassio could easily be restored if she wanted it to happen.

But the nature of her appeal in 3.3 to Othello is a bit over the top. She has vowed to Cassio that she will not let Othello sleep a wink until he resolves Cassio's suit. Then, when she approaches him in 3.3 she is oblivious to his anxieties about Cassio's presence with her and, as if to heighten his anxieties, uses words such as "Michael Cassio,/ That came a-wooing with you" who "Hath ta'en your part (3.3.70-73)." It is almost as if she is pleading for Cassio to replace Othello, rather than suing for his reinstatement.

Will the Real Desdemona Please Stand Up?

How can Desdemona be so utterly loyal and singularly devoted to Othello and, at the same time, seemingly so committed to Cassio? I suppose that a "clean" solution to the question would be to recognize that Desdemona is just a very passionate young woman who is finally free from the strictures of the life as a Senator's daughter in Venice and now can share her zest for life and love and her own political instincts with her husband as well as others without putting her marital fidelity to Othello in question.

On the other hand, Iago sees something in Cassio, who is "fram'd to make women false (1.3.398)," and something in her ("That she loves him, 'tis apt and of great credit"--2.1.287) which leads him to conclude that she in fact is in love with Cassio. I don't think we ought to dismiss Iago's sentiment so quickly, as many do, simply because Iago's interest is in showing a love connection between the two. Indeed, he wants to show that but he also is well-known throughout the play as the one who sees most clearly into the springs of human motivation. Thus, perhaps Desdemona was flirting with the idea of Cassio's attractiveness to her. If Othello can let the yawning gulfs of chaos open to him before he quickly closes the door, why not see Desdemona as a similar kind of person-- i.e., one who also imagines degrees of intimacy that she will pull back from a short time later?

Conclusion

My conclusion about Desdemona at this point is that she probably is fully committed to Othello but probably also overwhelmed by the heady atmosphere of intrigue and love at the center of Cyprus politics. Just a few weeks earlier she was under lock and key in her father's home in Venice; now she is married to the most powerful person in the Venetian army, and, in addition, the second-in-command thinks she is divine. Might these realities tend to tear a passionate young woman's heart in more than one direction at once? Her love for Othello might be true and faithful, but as Shakespeare knows, love doesn't easily flow in nicely carved rivulets, even if the institution that carves those little rivers is marriage.

It is safe to say that Desdemona is in love with Othello. She is also a person who is full of love and is so tolerant and accepting of people that she even tries to humor Iago in his most inappropriate and sexist badinage while Othello disembarks (2.1.113-180). That she could also give off signals that her concern for Cassio was more than just the selfless concern of the captain's wife is also clear. Thus, when Iago gradually insinuates himself into Othello's mind in 3.3 with stories about Desdemona's supposed infidelity, we can conclude that one of the people that gave credibility to those stories was Desdemona herself.