#OTHELLO RULES FREE#

With its constant interruptions and pauses, it sounds more like a cry of Desdemona about her lost love. Many critics were wondering what the effect of The Willow Song and the interruptions to it is. Desdemona asks her servant to put her wedding sheets on, then suddenly she adds that she wants to be buried covered in her wedding sheets.

#OTHELLO RULES FREE#

However, she feels free to say this only in private.ĭesdemona talks to Emilia about the significance of The Willow Song while they are changing the bedsheets. Desdemona states that this song was on her mind all night long. She tells the story behind it and sings it. Just a few moments before Desdemona dies, while she prepares to go to sleep, she mentions The Willow Song to Emilia. It was originally sung by her mother’s servant, Barbara. It’s a song that Desdemona recalls in Act 4 Scene 3. The Willow Song is one of the essential symbols in Othello. When Othello sees the handkerchief in Bianca’s hands later on in the play, it means only one thing for him. Shakespeare uses irony in this scene to show that it, in fact, does not mean anything. When Bianca finds the handkerchief, Cassio asks her to make a copy of its embroidery. It is a part of their “backstory.” It turns into a visual representation of their love, then into ocular proof of Desdemona’s infidelity, and in the end, it becomes the evidence of Iago’s manipulation. The path of the handkerchief in Othello starts before the audience sees Othello and Desdemona. Therefore, every time he sees it in someone else’s hands, her innocence becomes compromised. Ultimately, for Othello, it served as proof of Desdemona’s purity. Handkerchief as an Ocular ProofĪs the handkerchief passes from person to person, Othello’s suspicions grow. The transformation of the symbolic meaning of the handkerchief causes the shift of the story behind it. Later on, he believes that it is a charm against adultery. It shows that he does not think it has any magic powers.

In the beginning, when Desdemona offers the handkerchief to Othello, he rejects it. He started believing that it has some magic powers. However, Othello’s attitude towards the handkerchief changed. Obviously, both stories cannot be accurate.

She did not lose the handkerchief, nor she gave it away. Being confronted by Othello, Desdemona explains that Cassio: While earlier, he was telling that an Egyptian charmer had presented it to his mother.Īfter that, the couple never talks about the handkerchief until the deathbed scene. In Othello’s second story of how he got it, he says that his father had given it to his mother to prove his love. The audience gets two versions of what, according to Othello, is the history of the handkerchief.

However, usually, it would be a female who would give a handkerchief to the man she loves.

For Desdemona, it serves as a symbol of Othello’s love for her. In European Medieval Literature, a handkerchief is a symbol of female favor. The audience will see how Iago uses the handkerchief to condemn Desdemona. The object turns into a tool in the execution of Iago’s plan and, ultimately, into an “ocular proof” of Desdemona’s affair. Its importance becomes more and more evident from the moment when Desdemona drops it. Third, it can mean that Othello’s fixation over the handkerchief starts with Iago turning it into proof of infidelity.Īt first, the handkerchief does not seem that crucial. Also, by calling it “a napkin” instead of “a handkerchief,” Othello is belittling its importance. First, it can mean that Othello’s trust in Desdemona is already depleting. Instead, he says that her “napkin is too little.” It can refer to three things. Some critics even say that the handkerchief in Othello is the most dominant symbol in the entire play.įor the first time, this object appears in the play when Desdemona offers it to Othello, and he rejects it. It becomes the essence of the Shakespearean tragedy. However, at some point in the play, the symbol of love becomes proof of Desdemona’s infidelity. Othello gives the handkerchief as “a token of love,” therefore, for him, it serves as proof of mutual belonging to one another. It bears a lot of importance due to its origin and the meaning that Othello attaches to it. Ecu baseball camp.In Othello, the handkerchief, which Othello presents to Desdemona, serves as a significant symbol.

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