"Some Wonder in This Handkerchief": Magic, Early Modern Good Medicine, and Othello's Strange Difference

Abstract

Innocent of Othello’s irrevocable entrapment by Iago, Desdemona presses for Cassio’s restoration to lieutenancy. Othello ignores the subject. Instead, as he demands his handkerchief, he makes a singular comparison between its supposed powers and purity and the embalmed ventricles of the human heart: “The worms were hallowed that did breed the silk, / And it was dyed in mummy, which the skilful / Conserved of maiden’s hearts” (3.4.85-87).¹