The Significance of the Handkerchief in Othello Esssay Example

The extract given has been taken from Act 3 Scene 4, it depicts the peripeteia of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship as it establishes the end of their marriage and love for one another. This significant moment follows the beginnings of the machiavel’s (Iago) plans to ruin Othello establishing the character's fate as a tragic hero. In this scene, Shakspeare emphasises the inevitability of the character’s downfall by depicting the similarities between Iago and now Othello’s new adopted mannerisms. This represents the complete submission of Othello to the machiavel. In this scene, Shakespeare also explores the use of the symbolic handkerchief and its role in allowing chaos to pursue.

The use of Othello’s new adopted speech, where he comments on Desdoemona’s and being ‘Hot, hot, and moist’, reveals Iago’s hold over the character. The language used has become increasingly more crude and further from Othello’s natural self. A;though, this has been an occurring theme, in this extract, Shakespeare emphasises Othello’s complete shift in identity- the character is no longer the level headed and authoritative figure from the opening of the play. Furthermore, the plosives in Othello’s speech dictate a more violent nature has overcome the character, this dramatic irony certifies the brutal and vicious path the character takes from the point forward. Shakespeare exploits the use of this more neurotic behaviour to create a sense of foreboding danger through Othello’s more cynical speech. 

Shakspeare established the themes of losing love by the use of demonic references. The use of ‘a young and sweating devil’ reveals Othello’s dismissal of esdemeno’s purity and fidelity. Shakespeare does this to emphasize the news  of Desdemona in the tragic hero’s eyes, she has become something sinful and inhuman. It is this dehumanization that further enhances the dramatic irony utilised throughout the extract. The quote itself demonstrates how Desdemona is stripped of any desirable or feminine qualities in the eyes of Othello. She becomes something demonic, something to get rid of. This idea of Desdemona becoming disposable is supported by Shakspeare’s exploitation of Othello’s phallocentric behaviour. The character becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea of male dominance as well as traditional family values,  and uses religion as a support. It is this idea that Desdemona has turned from religion that certifies Othello’s loss of compassion,  thus establishing her fate as a tragic victim.

Arguably one of the most significant moments of the extract and in the play as a whole is where Othello learns Desdemona’s misplacement of the handkerchief. Shakespeare reveals the handkerchief as a means of betrayal for Othello as he states ‘if she lost it/ Or made gift of it, my father’s eye/ Should hold her loathed’ this further emphaises the assurance that Desdemona has deceived Othello.