Essay: Uncover the Symbolism of the Handkerchief in Shakespeare’s “Othello”

Jaleel WIlliams
Mrs. Spitaleri
LAL IV
March 6, 2017
The Napkin With A Multitude of Meanings
“Here Fair Desdemona, take this as a symbol of my undying love for you.” (Shakespeare Act 1.Scene 2). “Othello”, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, is believed to have been written in the 17th century. Shakespeare idea from this play came from a collection of tales called Hecatommithi(Cooke). The symbolism within Desdemona’s handkerchief is the main point in the play’s tragic plot. The handkerchief symbolizes marriage, personalities and love. During the play this handkerchief is used almost by every character, creating a extensive problem in the play within Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. Never once in the play, does a character make reference to any meaning to the handkerchief, however. In William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Shakespeare uses symbolism and imagery through the handkerchief to represent Othello and Desdemona’s’ personality, love and marriage.
In Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, Othello is a general of the Venetian army. He chose Cassio, a less experienced soldier to be Lieutenant,over Iago. This angers Iago who wanted the position of lieutenant for himself. Iago and Roderigo, a young man in love with Othello’s wife both sought out to get revenge over Othello.Othello however had married Desdemona without her father’s permission which was a valid point that Iago and Roderigo had to consider in plotting their revenge on Othello. With this knowledge, Iago and Cassio planned to manipulate Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Cassio, Othello’s newly appointed lieutenant told him that the Duke of Venice needs to see Othello right away. Before Othello even shows up, Desdemona’s father and his henchmen were all ready to kill Othello. Othello goes on and fires Cassio for setting him up and being drunk on the job. Cassio now goes to speak to Desdemona about getting his job back and to convince Othello to appoint him as lieutenant. Othello becomes very ill and Desdemona tries to bandage his head playfully with a handkerchief. Emilia takes the handkerchief and gives to Iago who then puts the handkerchief in Cassio’s room. Othello enters the room and see the handkerchief lying there and thinks Desdemona is cheating on him. Othello kills Desdemona for cheating on him, even though she did not cheat on Othello. The handkerchief was the reason which lead to destruction in Othello and Desdemona relationship and soon lead to her death.
The handkerchief is really significant by a connection to his past. “We hear about the handkerchief power to control affections between Othello’s mother and father and the danger of its loss. Losing it Othello tells Desdemona leads to disaster.” (Mussari) This gives the reader the impression of the handkerchief being important to Othello and being sacred. When Desdemona losing something which Othello sees as so special it is a importance in showing us how Othello comes to killing Desdemona.The handkerchief also symbolizes Othello’s jealousy, and relationship. In the beginning of the play Othello gave the handkerchief to Desdemona has a gift. “The handkerchief also comes to represent Othello’s obsessive jealousy.” (Mussari) This goes back in the story where Iago moves the handkerchief in Cassio’s room. Iago doing this made Othello think that his wife has given this token of his love to another man. Othello notices that Desdemona loss the handkerchief and that’s when he knew the marriage was falling apart. When Othello goes to talk to Desdemona he keeps on saying “the handkerchief, the handkerchief”. (Shakespeare Act 4 Scene 1) In the final act, when Desdemona tells Othello she wasn’t cheating on him and she didn’t give it to Cassio. Othello still accuses of her of lying. After that Othello founds the handkerchief in Cassio’s room then at this point he want to kill Desdemona.
Handkerchief is spotted with strawberries this meaning it represents the blood on bed and the handkerchief itself is the wedding bed sheets. “The strawberries would look like drops of blood from the seats”. (Cooke) The strawberries were hand stitched with thread that has been dyed with blood from maiden hearts. The handkerchief is also a racial object. The description of the handkerchief which is given to Othello’s offers a legend and the handkerchief and a description of physical qualities. “The power of the handkerchief is that it raise the audience’s attention as well as the tension in the play” (Sofer). Whenever the reader or audience see the handkerchief being used they know something is about to happen.
The handkerchief was used as Iago’s main tool of destruction. “Without the handkerchief Iago lies would not stick” (Sofer). The handkerchief shows how smart Iago is. Iago knowing how much the handkerchief meant to Othello and Desdemona relationship to use it against Othello. The fact that he uses it up a way for his creative plan it shows how evil Iago is. With no sorry he can use a simple item to completely destroy someone. The handkerchief is also important in relation to it allows Iago to proceed his final plan. It can be argued with how easy he convinced Othello, He had the handkerchief on his side. Furthermore it gives us information about the relationship between Emilia and Iago. “I’ll have the work ta’en out And give it to Iago. What he will do with it Heaven knows, not I Nothing but to please his fantasy.” (Shakespeare) Emilia wants the handkerchief copied so she can return it to Desdemona and Othello and give to Iago. In the story we see Iago talking down on Emila until he is presented with the handkerchief. When Emilia gives the handkerchief to Iago, he is really pleased with her. She is shown with love and affection something Emilia is not used too.
The handkerchief is the most used item in Othello. It has many different meanings that make different interpretations of the play. The most important and strongest meanings are based of the handkerchief. The characters in the play see the handkerchief as power, love, marriage and lies but each of these are made stronger by looking at the handkerchief itself. The handkerchief could be used that it takes up a life of its own. The handkerchief helps us understand the characters, and giving us a clear view of the certain characters. The way Shakespeare uses a small object that has such a enormous weight, emotions and symbolism in the play.