Othello- Desdemona chooses Othello

My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
To you I am bound for life and education.
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of my duty,
I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband,
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before your father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord. (Act I, Scene III, lines 179-188)


This is the first thing Desdemona says in the play. She is speaking in front of the senate trying to defend her love. It is important to see the way in which she makes such a speech because she admits she cannot choose between two people she loves and whole-heartedly tries to help her father understand what she is thinking and that she's not merely a rebellious child going against her father's wishes. She makes it clear that she feels "divided" between her father and Othello. She explains that she has a duty towards her father and acknowledges it from a daughter's angle. Simultaneously, she compares herself to her mother, who was loyal to her father as a husband and this duty is as important as that of a daughter. Finally, because she does have to make a decision, she says just like her mother chose him (her father) over her father, she must do the same and choose her husband Othello.