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I need a hanky!

Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (68-97) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"In the course of Shakespeare's Othello, the handkerchief emerges as a symbolic object."

As I was reading this section about the handkerchief, I was blown away by how many different things the handkerchief meant to so many different people. You know a symbol's good when what it means to different characters clearly affects the outcome of the plot. I love symbols because they can have such emotional resonance when they're done right, and that comes from having so many different interpretations of meaning.

Comments (2)

Kayla:

I too found the hankerchief interesting in Foster. They way you described it was intriguing.

I agree. It is amazing. It goes to show once more that there really is no one answer, and that is always an interesting thing to think about. One small thing can have so many different meanings.

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