ABSTRACT
William Shakespeare went beyond the stock characters of the morality plays that preceded him, with their overt personifications of virtue and vice, and gave us, for the first time, human “villains”. For the majority of his plays, Shakespeare incorporated many different sources. In writing Othello he did something different. As the play opens, Iago expresses his hatred of Othello for having ranked Michael Cassio above him. While Othello and Desdemona elope in the night, Iago orders Roderigo to wake Desdemona’s father Brabantio. Othello clearly idealises Venice, and Desdemona it’s pearl. Othello tries to identify with its court by over-reaching them. Othello’s language here reflects an even more strenuous attempt to identify with the Venetians. Othello, furious for being interrupted in his wedding bed, demotes Cassio and names Iago his second in command. The handkerchief is a token of a soothing aspect of his past and a transitional object for Othello.
