Desdemona's Handkerchief In Othello

Othello’s susceptibility to deceit facilitates Iago’s plan, and consequently accelerates his own downfall as a tragic hero. Othello’s jealous motives are driven by nothing more than sheer circumstantial evidence, as despite demanding with strong modality for Iago to “give me a living reason she’s disloyal” and “ocular proof” of Desdemona’s betrayal, Iago merely suggests Cassio possessed Desdemona’s handkerchief, which is the most significant symbol of her loyalty to Othello. Othello’s superstitious sentiment of the handkerchief, demonstrated in his monologue of “that handkerchief … nothing else could match”, characterises the strong Elizabethan belief in witchcraft and the supernatural. Desdemona, at realising she had lost this handkerchief,