The Lovely Handkerchief Curse

The handkerchief is typically a hemmed square of thin fabric carried around for hygiene purposes.  In Shakespeare’s Othello, the handkerchief becomes a symbol.  Othello using his eloquent storytelling skills explains how he received a handkerchief from his mother which he believes to have magical powers.   His mother gave Othello the handkerchief as a symbol of fidelity.  She explained if he gave the handkerchief to a woman she would be forever true to him.  Othello gave the handkerchief to Desdemona who unfortunately dropped the handkerchief on the ground.  Emilia picked it up and gave it to Iago enlightening how, "My wayward husband hath a hundred times / Woo'd me to steal it" (III.iii.292-293).  Cassio “finds” the handkerchief and gives it to Bianca.  The handkerchief is more than just a traveling object throughout the play it means so much more.

The handkerchief is white with strawberries.  The little strawberries can look like little hearts.  The strawberries are symbolic of fruitfulness.  Moreover, the color red can symbolize blood as seen in the following lines, “There’s magic in the web of it…In her prophetic fury sewed the work;/ The worms were hallowed that did breed the silk,/ and it was dyed in mummy which the skillful/ Conserved of maidens’ hearts.”  In this passage, Othello’s exoticness is revealed further as the “blood” is supposed to the blood drained from embalmed bodies.  The blood on the handkerchief can therefore be the white wedding sheet stained with a virgin’s blood.  Possibly, symbolic of Desdemona’s blood.  Similarly, the red coloring coinciding with blood foreshadows the bloody ending.  Othello says,” With that recognizance and pledge of love/ Which I first gave her; I saw it in his hand/ It was a handkerchief, an antique token/ My father gave my mother (V.ii.210-217)”.  The little piece of fabric ties the entire play together!  Emilia finally confesses she gave the handkerchief to Iago who set the whole web of lies in action. Everyone who touched or held on to the handkerchief ends up dead, injured, or imprisoned by the end of the play.  Is the handkerchief a curse?  Is love a curse?  Is love truly deadly?  The sex in marriage may actually bring about the evils of love.