Have you ever heard the expression "If these walls could talk"? Well, in Shakespeare's.
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). .
His mother gave it to him on her death bed. Othello was to give it to the woman he loved and.
as long as she had it, she would be faithful to him. However, as Othello said, "To lose it or.
give't away were such a perdtition as nothing else could match". (Act III, Scene IV, Lines 67-.
68) As Othello's first gift to Desdemona, the handkerchief is very meaningful to their .
relationship. Othello believes fully in the power of the handkerchief so, to him it is a sign of.
Desdemona's love and fidelity. .
As the handkerchief changes from the hands of Desdemona to Emilia and eventually to .
Iago, the handkerchief now becomes Iago's most important tool in tricking Othello into thinking.
that his wife is being unfaithful. He uses the handkerchief as the only physical evidence of.
Desdemona's unfaithfullness by telling Othello that Desdemona gave it away to Cassio.
