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What symbolic significance does the handkerchief serve
The themes of Othello
Othello's emotional essay
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Othello and Desdemona started their life together thinking it was to be forever.
The handkerchief symbolizes the start of a new generation, a token of their union and
ultimately determines their fate and the main characters lives being changed by the
events. The films adaption, as in Shakespeare play, he makes the handkerchief significant
to the plot.
Othello’s mother gave him the handkerchief on her dying bed to give to the
women he marries. “She, dying, gave it me, and bid me, when my fate would have me
wive; to give her.” Desdemona and Othello confess their love for one another in hopes of
a blissful life together. Unbeknown to them that the handkerchief would be their down
fall. Desdemona “The heavens forbid but, that our loves and comforts should increase
even as our days do grow.” Othello’s reply was “Amen to that, sweet powers! I cannot
speak enough of this content; it stops me here; it is too much of joy. And this, and this,
the greatest discords be that e’er our hearts shall make.” Othello is saying my sweet
strength! Words cannot say enough; it feels my heart with joy and may our hearts sing as
one with out strife. (2. 1.186-190).
Upon entering the bedroom Desdemona and Emilia find Othello there with a headache. “How now, my dear Othello?” your dinner, and the generous islanders by you invited, do attend your presence.” Desdemona ask Othello are you feeling better my dear husband. Desdemona tells Othello the people you invited have requested your attendance for dinner. “I have pain upon my forehead, here.” Desdemona tells Othello that his head would be better soon, “faith, that with watching; twill away again. Let me bind it hard, within this hour it will be ...
... middle of paper ...
...lls Othello “No, Cassio is not killed.” Now Othello plan is spoiled. Emilia
inquires what has happened to Desdemona. (O, Lord! What cry is that?)This
is when Emilia finds Desdemona dead in the bed. (V.2. 67-68 72. 80) (V.2.114-116).
Emilia spoke these words “you told a lie, odious damned lie! Upon my soul, a
lie! A wicked lie! She false with Cassio? Did you say with Cassio? Iago tells his wife to
be quiet but, Emilia informs Othello that she gave the handkerchief to Iago, and Iago
placed the handkerchief in Cassio’s possession. Iago grabs his wife and kills her. Emilia
stumbles to the bed, laid down next to Desdemona and dies. Othello finds out that Iago
misled him and stabs Iago and himself. Roderigo was wounded, Desdemona, Emilia,
Iago, Othello lay dead in the bed which, ultimately led to their demise. (V.2. 180. 226-
229)
In this group of dialogue, Othello loses his usual poetic eloquence. His mental and emotional composure were compromised, thus impairing his diction. This temporary breach in character displayed his internal conflict and how it was affecting him as a person--for Othello's dignified speech, just as the way anyone speaks, was a part of him as a person.
These behaviours allude towards tension due to their dissimilarity to the accustomed conduct of Othello and Desdemona. Desdemona’s growing fear of Othello is evident. in the precautions she takes to avoid his anger. Desdemona places the importance of Othello’s commands above her need to confide in Emilia.... ...
...uinely sweet on her. When Desdemona asks Iago to distract her from worrying about Othello, who may be lost at sea, Iago obliges by plying his wit upon her. This particular conversation does not serve to further his plot by causing his good image to increase, as he praises people of ill-manner, nor does it set up a future situation. It is simply conversation. However, Iago recognizes his love will forever go unrequited even if Othello were to die, and so his passion turned bitter and he jealously decided that if he can’t have her, no one can. Goading Othello into blind jealousy, he also restrains the Moor with cautionary words- like holding back a rabid dog whilst prodding it with a stick, so that once released, there is no chance of the madness wearing off mid-bite. Iago wants to ensure that when Othello says, “I’ll tear her all to pieces” (3,3, 447), he really will.
Iago plants the handkerchief on Cassio. Convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello smothers his beloved wife in their marriage bed. Emilia then proves Iago’s guilt and Desdemona’s innocence to Othello. Othello stabs Iago, who is under arrest, but fails to kill him and commits suicide.
He suspects that Othello and Emilia have been together intimately. He then seeks revenge on the Moor; in the process, he uses his own wife as an accomplice. This leads to, the case of the missing handkerchief! Emilia is completely naive and without any suspicion she never suspects that Iago envies the Moor and will use the handkerchief to deceive him. When Emilia says: I am glad I have found this napkin!
Continuing Act three, Scene three, Othello feels the beginning of a headache. Desdemona offers Othello a handkerchief to ease the pain upon Othello’s forehead. The handkerchief is a gift from Othello to Desdemona as a symbol of the love shared by Othello and Desdemona. In Othello’s pain the handkerchief falls from Othello’s hand and Emilia steals the handkerchief. Iago uses the characters of the play as pawns, including wife Emilia. Jealousy is the fuel and the handkerchief is the spark. With the handkerchief in Iago’s possession, Iago can continue to spin the web of lies and deceit. Iago plans to leave the handkerchief in Cassio’s lodgings to further support the suspicion of Desdemona’s infidelity.
Like every Shakespearean tragedy there is often an untimely doom that ends the life of the "hero" or main character of the play. The main character’s doom only becomes the outcome when they are unable to better the wrongs they or others had committed. However, in this Shakespearean tragedy the person who drives the participants of this play to their doom, isn’t the main character Othello, but Iago, the motiveless character whose jealousy and rage drives him to commit crimes towards the people who believed him and considered him a trusting friend.
Shakespeare's Othello is not simply a play which embodies the conflict between insider and outsider. The paradigm of otherness presented in this play is more complicated than the conclusion, "Othello is different; therefore, he is bad." Othello's character is to be revered. He is a champion among warriors; an advisor among councilmen; a Moor among Venetians. Yes, Othello is a Moor, but within the initial configuration of the play, this fact is almost irrelevant. His difference is not constructed as “otherness.” Othello, by his nature, is not an “otherized” character. Besides being the dark-skinned Moor, Othello varies in no real way from the other characters in the play. Further, Othello and Iago can be seen as two sides of the same destructive coin. With Iago as a foil and subversive adversary, Othello is not faulted for the indiscretions he commits. It is the invention and projection of otherness by various characters in the play, especially Iago, which set the stage for the tragedy of dissimilarity which is to ensue.
This passage is a soliloquy or speech from Othello to Desdemona’s father. He is telling how she has become his wife. Othello plea’s with Desdemona’s father for his blessing and to be a family. Othello states that her father has treated him well for many years and should honor his daughter for loving such a man. Othello and Desdemona is a love made in heaven. They are willing to fight alongside each other in battles and love one another in happy times.
These lines are the first hint given that Desdemona may not have always been completely captivated by her husband. These words, not denied by Othello, sit in contrast to his own. Upon hearing her words, Othello seems a changed man, depressed and submissive, his new attitude brought on by “Desdemona’s own honest account of her original feelings for Othello and the role Cassio played in Othello’s winning of her” (Macaulay 269). With just a little concern for Othello’s own pride, Desdemona have chosen to withhold some words or soften their blow. Instead, her own pride continues to lead her headlong onto a destructive
From this point on, Othello insecurity manifests into a seemingly irrational fear of being cuckolded, and his self-perceived worth diminishes exponentially. Othello comments on the likelihood of Desdemona cheating, by explaining how it may be “for [he is] black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have…” (3.3.280-282) Othello’s frustration with the threat of being cuckolded puts strain on his relationship with Desdemona, and she quickly becomes a victim of domestic abuse. For example, Othello acts as an interrogator, demanding to see the handkerchief which he gave her that symbolizes faithfulness and commitment towards Othello. (Quotation) When she is unable to produce their symbol of trust, Othello’s anger manifests inside him. The audience is shown a stark contrast to Othello’s typically cool, collected and composted nature. This abrupt and irrational change in behaviour is emphasized when Othello strikes Desdemona in front of Lordovico, (4.1.245) Othello’s
Of Shakespeare’s five greatest tragedies, Othello is by far the most passionate and gripping. It is a tale of love, deception, evil, honesty, and virtue. Othello himself is set apart from other Shakespearean tragic heroes by the absolute feeling of affection the audience feels for him even unto the very end of the play. Any discerning reader painfully recognizes the virtue and goodness of Othello throughout the entire play, in contrast to the general degeneration of character so typical of a tragic hero. It is this complete pity that makes the death of Othello so tragic as the audience lends their full hopeful support until the inevitable and unavoidable fall. The evil side of Othello’s tragic flaw came from without, in the form of Iago. The internal flaw exists only in his heartrendingly unshakable goodness and honor.
Emilia is close to Desdemona and it may be that her jealousy is resentful, because of her low social status, unhappy with her job, Desdemona being married to Othello or Desdemona’s innocence. It could also be because she is jealous that Othello and Desdemona love each other and have no jealousy between them. Emilia’s chara...
When news travels that Desdemona is dead Othello discovers that Iago had set everything up and that Desdemona was innocent all along. He then does the most honourable thing that he thinks he can do and that is to kill himself. In his final words he believes that ’there is no way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.’
Iago snares Roderigo, a man who is in love with Desdemona, by being the barer of bad news that she has just married Othello the Moor. It appears to Roderigo that Iago has his best interest at heart and that he wants to help him to win Desdemona over from Othello. Once Iago gains the trust of Roderigo he convinces him that they must do what is right and tell of Othello’s marriage to Desdemona the senator, her father. Iago accompanies Roderigo to the door of the Senator, Brabantio, and convinces Roderigo to call up to him to tell of this news. Once the senator is waked, Iago flees to tell Othello that trouble is on its way. This was the first clue that he was up to no good.