Symbolism in Othello

“Othello” is the story of a Moorish general living in Cyprus, and the personal struggles he faces as he tries to decide which of the people closest to him is telling the truth – his wife, or his servant. This play is a tragedy, as evidenced by the interpersonal conflicts and the deaths that occur at the end. William Shakespeare is famous for his tragic works, and the use of symbolism and double entendres in his writing is also well-known. “Othello” is no different than Shakespeare’s other plays in this respect, and even a quick run-through of the play will show that this is so. This paper discusses three particular symbols that can be identified in Shakespeare’s “Othello”: water, plants, and magic.

There are several mentions of water throughout the play. Water is a symbol of change. In the first part of the play, Othello and Desdemona are happy and in love, even to the point where Desdemona is willing to give up her family and her life to go and live with Othello. The second act begins with a description of the tumultuous sea, the “desperate tempest” (Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 1), a portent of the turmoil that is to come into the lives of Othello and Desdemona.

After Iago has poisoned Othello’s mind with his stories of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello confronts Desdemona with these false accusations and slaps her. Desdemona is talking about this to Iago’s wife, Emilia, who says that she should try to talk to Othello again. In Act 4, Scene 2, Desdemona says: “ … do not talk to me, Emilia; I cannot weep; nor answer have I none but what should go by water.” When the drama is all played out, and Iago has wreaked his vengeance on Cassio and Othello, and Othello kills his wife, all he can say is, “She was false as water” (Shakespeare, Act 5, Scene 2).

Water is a very strong symbol, but a symbol that has an even stronger influence on the work is plant life – especially the willow.

The willow represents the grief of a lost love. Desdemona is the first character to mention the willow: “My mother had a maid call’d Barbara; She was in love; and he she lov’d prov’d mad and did forsake her: she had a song of “willow” … it express’d her fortune, and she died singing it.” (Shakespeare, Act 4, Scene 3). This was a foreshadowing of Desdemona’s own death at the hand of her former lover.

Interestingly, within the willow song, there is a reference to water – kind of a symbol within a symbol: “The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree. Sing all a green willow. …The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur’d her moans; Sing willow, willow, willow; Her salt tears fell from her, and soften’d the stones” (Shakespeare, Act 4, Scene 3). Her maid and friend, Emilia, sings this same song in Scene of Act 5, after her own husband, Iago, mortally stabs her.

These two symbols, water and willow, are intriguing, but they pale in comparison to the symbol of magic. This symbol is introduced at the beginning of the play (Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 2), when Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, accuses: “O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter? Damn’d as thou art, thou hast enchanted her; For I’ll refer me to all things of sense, if she in chains of magic were not bound ….” Later, Othello explains the “magic” he used to capture and keep Desdemona with him: “That handkerchief did an Egyptian to my mother give … she told her, while she kept it, ‘twould make her amiable and subdue my father entirely to her love; but if she lost it or made a gift of it, my father’s eye should hold her loathed, and his spirits should hunt after new fancies” (Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 4).

Desdemona misplaced this handkerchief, and it came into Iago’s possession, and so the spell was broken. Ironically, even though Othello believed he was capable of magical powers of persuasion, he falls prey to Iago’s “magic,” which is much stronger: “O, you are well tun’d now! But I’ll set down the pegs that make this music, as honest as I am” (Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 1). And Iago has everyone thoroughly convinced what an honest man he is! (Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 3; Act 2, Scene 1; Act 2, Scene 3; Act 5, Scene 2).

This is just a sample of the symbols and themes that run through William Shakespeare’s “Othello.” This paper focused on the three symbols of water, the willow, and magic. Each of these symbols appears in the beginning, middle, and the end of the work. Shakespeare has long been considered one of the greatest writers in the history of the world, and it is not difficult to see why when his use of symbolism and word play is examined. The symbols in “Othello” have been studied for hundreds of years, and it is safe to say that they will continue to be studied for several hundred more.

Shakespeare, William (1602). Othello, Moor of Venice, 103 pages.