"I took you for that cunning whore of Venice"
Othello's defamation of Desdemona takes on greater significance in light of Jardine's study of Ecclesiastical Court records that show the regularity with which women vigorously defended themselves against charges of unchastity. Jardine asserts if the defamed person didn't mount a defense, the unchallenged accusation became an 'actuality' and punishments could be imposed.
Using Ecclesiastical Court depositions from Durham, Jardine illustrates a variety of charges against women's honor and their vigorous public defenses. A case from the 1570s involving a husband's words shows the dangerous repercussions when private remarks enter the "public" realm. According to Jardine, John Hunter, "made a deposition on behalf of the supposed utterer of a defamation, in the case of Helen Johnson, wife of Simon Johnson, as against George Allenson" (32):
Upon his consciens he beliveth that the said Elinour is a veri honest woman, and so named and reported within the towne and parish of Medomsley of all inhabitors there, saving hir owne husband, who, beinge a very suspecious man, haith some tyme audiently caulde the said Elinor 'Skott's hore.' He saith, upon his oothe, that he never harde the said Allenson say at any time any suche wordes as is articulate. Mary, he saith, that, about St. Elenmas last past, to this examinate's remembrance, the said Helen (alias Elinour) Johnson, by report satt downe of hir knees in the church porche of Medomsley, upon a sonday or hallydaye, after service, when many people were assembled in the church yarde; at what tyme the said George Allenson came to this examinat, being then talking with one John Stevenson, of Bierssyde, and requierd this examinate and one Androo Hunter to here what he, the said Allenson, wold say, and examon the said Helen upon which had satt down in the kirke porch, and asked a vengeance of hym, the said George. At whose request this examinate and the said Androo went with the said George to the aforesiad Helyn Johnson, and in the presence of 30 persons moo, then, this examinate and Androo Hunter questioned and examoned the said Helene, what fault he had maid hir or hir husband to ax a vengeaunce upon hym, the said George Allenson? to whome the said Helyn answerd and said then, 'whye dids thowe caule me--hoore?' and then the said Georg aunswerd hir, the said Helyn, and said, 'Thou knowist best whither thou art a hore or noo: thou was never my hoore.' And she, the said Helyn, still said that the said George had cauld hir so. And the said Allenson offerd to make amends yf she culd bring in aither honest man or woman that wolde prove thoise wordes. 'Yeis,' quodth the said Symon, 'Thou caulde hir hoore to my face at the well grein.' And then aunswerd the said George and said, 'Loke, what I caulde his afore, that will I caull hir againe'; and so the parties departyd. Examined whither he, this examinate, haith hard the said George caule the aforesaid Symon cookhold or noo, he aunswerethe negatively.Noting that the records indicate defamation cases were routinely adjudicated, Jardine sets that background against Shakespeare's treatment of defamation in Othello, focusing her attention on the moment in which Othello's charge becomes "public" (i.e. it is repeated outside the marriage), Desdemona's inability to defend herself, and the manner in which Bianca and Emilia do defend their honor openly. She raises the possibility that Desdemona's responses transform the accusation to a legal 'actuality' in Othello's mind.Signum + JOHANNIS HUNTER (32)
To discuss Jardine's argument, students will need to assess the documentary relevance in connection with several moments in the play's final acts. The first moment is Othello's first public accusation, spoken just after Emilia intrudes on the private discussion:
| Othello. | Are you not a strumpet? |
| Desdemona. | No, as I am a Christian: |
| If to preserve this vessel for my lord From any hated foul unlwawful touch, Be not to be a strumpet, I am none. |
|
| Othello. | What, not a whore? |
| Desdemona. | No, as I shall be sav'd. |
| Enter Emilia | |
| Othello. | Is't possible? |
| Desdemona. | O, heaven, forgiveness. |
| Othello. | I cry you mercy, |
| I took you for that cunning whore of Venice, That married with Othello. (IV. ii. 84-92) |
Next, Emilia (who must have heard something), though speaking on her lady's behalf, begins the process of repeating the slander in "public," and Desdemona fails to mount any formal rebuttal:
| Emilia. | Alas, Iago, my lord hath so bewhor'd her, Thrown such despite, and heavy terms upon her, As true hearts cannot bear. |
| Desdemona. | Am I that name, Iago? |
| Iago. | What name, fair lady? |
| Desdemona. | Such as she says my lord did say I was? |
| Emilia. | He call'd her whore, a beggar in his drink Could not have laid such terms upon his callat. (IV. ii. 116-123) |
Again, students may want to probe Desdemona's question to Iago about her virtue? Is her response too passive?
More worldly wise, Emilia understands the importance of rebutting the accusations and speaks against the charges Iago has uttered against her. Iago's direction to "speak within door" may also seem significant to the public vs. private realm issue:
| Emilia. | Why should he call her whore? who keeps her company? What place, what time, what form, what likelihood? The Moor's abused by some most villainous knave, Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow.... |
| Iago. | Speak within door. |
| Emilia. | O, fie upon them! Some such squire he was That turned your wit the seamy side without And made you suspect me with the Moor. (IV. ii. 139-149) |
The courtesan Bianca also seems to understand the importance of a public defense against slander. She openly responds to Iago's charges:
| Iago. | This is the fruits of whoring. Prithee, Emilia, Go know of Cassio where he supped to-night. What, do you (Bianca) shake at that? |
| Bianca. | He supped at my house; but I therefore shake not. |
| Iago. | O, did he so? I charge you go with me. |
| Emilia. | Fie, fie upon thee, strumpet! |
| Bianca. | I am no strumpet, but of life as honest As thou that thus abuse me. (V. I. 115-122) |
With the new sense of the defamation in mind, students can turn to the play's final encounter between Othello and Desdemona and examine the legalistic overtones Othello employs. Certainly, the antecedent of "it is the cause" takes on another dimension. Is it possible that instead of the "occular proof" Othello desired he substituted "oral arguments" -- one-sided defamations made by a husband and left to stand unanswered by a wife? That defense is left to Emilia, who risks her life to "speak true."
An interesting aside to the defamation interest appears later in Shakespeare's life when in 1613, the playwright's eldest daughter, Susanna, was publicly accused of adultery and then sued the slanderer in court at Worcester. British playwright Peter Whelan dramatizes the story in his 1996 play The Herbal Bed.
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