The Significance Of The Handkerchief
Tiffanee Dixon
Eng 102 CRN: 1107
Professor William O’Connell
May 13, 2015
The Significance of the Handkerchief
The handkerchief is significant in the plot of Othello, as it influences and effects multiple characters in the play. It can also be seen as the tool of havoc that Iago so cruelly uses to initiate the ending of his devious plan. The handkerchief is the pivotal point of the play that causes the final hit on Othello’s spiral downfall. The handkerchief represents many different things for many characters in the play.
The handkerchief is primarily symbolic of Desdemona’s sexual virtue. The handkerchief as sexual virtue is a symbol that drives the critical action in the play. Othello’s demand for “ocular proof” (3.3.412) shows that he sees the handkerchief as representative of his wife’s marital fidelity. This symbolic nature has nothing to do with the physical reality of the handkerchief, but is a meaning imbued upon it by the situation in the play. In other words, the handkerchief itself does not matter. It could be any other object belonging to Desdemona and have the same symbolic value to Othello. Yet this symbolic value is strong enough to convince Othello that Desdemona is worth killing over her supposed infidelity:
By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in [Cassio’s] hand!
O perjured woman, thou dost stone my heart
And mak’st me call what I inted to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice! (5.2.78-81)
Othello has allowed the handkerchief to entirely assume its role as representative of Desdemona’s sexual fidelity to him. As a result, Othello decides to accept the circumstantial (and false) evidence of the handkerchief as physical proof: “Now I do see ‘tis true” (3.3.504). The meaning of the handkerchief for Othello becomes divorced from its physical reality, despite still having a defined physical space as a stage prop. Obviously, the handkerchief proves nothing. It is not truly conclusive evidence. But that is not important to Othello because
Eng 102 CRN: 1107
Professor William O’Connell
May 13, 2015
The Significance of the Handkerchief
The handkerchief is significant in the plot of Othello, as it influences and effects multiple characters in the play. It can also be seen as the tool of havoc that Iago so cruelly uses to initiate the ending of his devious plan. The handkerchief is the pivotal point of the play that causes the final hit on Othello’s spiral downfall. The handkerchief represents many different things for many characters in the play.
The handkerchief is primarily symbolic of Desdemona’s sexual virtue. The handkerchief as sexual virtue is a symbol that drives the critical action in the play. Othello’s demand for “ocular proof” (3.3.412) shows that he sees the handkerchief as representative of his wife’s marital fidelity. This symbolic nature has nothing to do with the physical reality of the handkerchief, but is a meaning imbued upon it by the situation in the play. In other words, the handkerchief itself does not matter. It could be any other object belonging to Desdemona and have the same symbolic value to Othello. Yet this symbolic value is strong enough to convince Othello that Desdemona is worth killing over her supposed infidelity:
By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in [Cassio’s] hand!
O perjured woman, thou dost stone my heart
And mak’st me call what I inted to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice! (5.2.78-81)
Othello has allowed the handkerchief to entirely assume its role as representative of Desdemona’s sexual fidelity to him. As a result, Othello decides to accept the circumstantial (and false) evidence of the handkerchief as physical proof: “Now I do see ‘tis true” (3.3.504). The meaning of the handkerchief for Othello becomes divorced from its physical reality, despite still having a defined physical space as a stage prop. Obviously, the handkerchief proves nothing. It is not truly conclusive evidence. But that is not important to Othello because