Handkercheif

Othello, the expression should be changed to "If this handkerchief could talk". Desdemona's

handkerchief takes on its own role throughout the play and is the only witness to Iago's plot. It

passes through the hands of six characters throughout the play and as it goes from hand to hand,

it becomes a more intricate part of the story. The value it holds is different to every character,

however, the significance of Desdemona's handkerchief transforms as the play unfolds. It goes

from a symbol of fidelity and love, to the main contraption for underhanded treachory, and

ultimately as a means for the realization of betrayal.

To Othello, the handkerchief has magical powers. He explains the history behind it.

"Did an Egyptian to my mother give. She told her, while she kept it, t'would

make her amiable and subdued my father entirely to her love; but if she lost it or

made a gift of it, my father's eye should hold her loathed, and his spirits should

hunt after new fancies." (Act III, Scene IV, Lines 56-63).

stained wedding sheets Desdemona has laid on her bed the night she dies. The handkerchief's

believe Iago, despite his waife's claims of faithfulness. The combination of physical evidence

opposed to the loyalty is had originally meant. Instead of symbolizing Desdemona's loyalty to

handkerchief tells the story of Iago's evil plot. Just as Iago used the handkerchief as the only

The handkerchief is the most important symbol in the play because it affects the lives

Some topics in this essay:
III Line, Shakespeare's Othello, II Line, IV Lines, III Lines, Desdemona Emilia, Cassio Othello, II Lines, Desdemona Cassio, Handkerchief Talk, physical evidence, act iii, act iii scene, iii scene, handkerchief physical evidence, handkerchief physical, iii scene iii, scene iii, handkerchief talk, iago handkerchief, throughout play, act scene, act scene ii, iago's tool, iii scene iv,