Notorious question:

Since this is your second thread about not being able to understand classic films, maybe you had just better stick to all those modern films with deep psychology and very clear motivations - if you can find one. Or maybe a simplistic superhero or car chase film is more to your liking.

But, to answer your question: Alicia Huberman had many psychological problems such as a father who had been convicted of treason, alcoholism, low self-esteem, and no direction in life. Devlin played on all those insecurities. All this is plainly visible in the film even if it is not spelled out as if talking to a 3-year-old - as a modern movie might do.

The aspect of Notorious that makes it one of Hitchcock's most complex and richly layered thrillers - and the one that most fascinated him about the project - is the emotional conflict that lies at its center: spies and espionage are only a premise upon which to base the perverse drama of a man who, in service to duty, must send the woman he loves into the bed of an enemy.

Early in the film, Alicia says to Dev, "You're sore because you've fallen for a little drunk you tamed in Miami and you don't like it. It makes you sick all over, doesn't it? People will laugh at you: the invincible Devlin, in love with someone who isn't worth even wasting the words on." And she's dead on. By the time they both learn what the assignment is, they've already fallen for each other.

And here's where the perversity comes in: Alicia hopes Dev will tell her to refuse the assignment out of a belief that, as she'd sarcastically put it, she's "been made over by love." He hopes she'll refuse it on her own for the same reason. Each waits for the reaction they want from the other, and when neither gets it, he convinces himself that his initial reservations are reinforced in spite of his feelings for her, and she agrees to go ahead with it only to prove herself worthy of him. And the more she does, the more deeply he buries his feelings, coping with his hurt by expressing hostility, which only increases her commitment to the assignment; she's prepared to sacrifice herself to it if she can't have him. 

It isn't until she's dying from poisoning that he can fully acknowledge and confess those feelings: "I couldn't see straight or think straight. I was a fatheaded guy full of pain. It tore me up not having you."

While the circumstances are extreme, it's commentary on the nature of romantic relationships in general: people in love do things to hurt one another when neither gets what they want from the other.
    

 

"I'm pouring this one for Doghouse6 . Finally someone understands me."

Shame about the ice...gone. 

I agree, Doghouse6. It's hard to reduce these things down, and yet one must under these circumstances. And I do hope our thoughts have provided some enlightenment on the subject for anyone inclined to ponder them. Notorious, in my opinion, is a deceptively complex film. That, for me, is the beauty of it.

Gee whiz, I saw only one reply that contained anything remotely critical of the question, and even that one offered an answer to it. 

I, for one, was quite happy to address it (as I am for any opportunity to analyze this great film), and had a lot of fun doing so, as well as reading other users' explanations. BUT... if there's no indication forthcoming that you've read, absorbed and considered these replies, I will get mad.

And no, I'm not really serious about that, except to the extent that it's only minimally frustrating - no, make that puzzling - when multiple users offer their insights in response to queries, only to go unacknowledged by the thread originator. Nevertheless, I encourage you to keep right on asking questions about classic films that others of us can discuss. When they're ones I appreciate as much as I do Notorious, any excuse to do so is welcome.