Got Symbols?

  So besides the recurring motifs of deception and unfaithfulness, Othello also has a number of symbols, the most obvious being the handkerchief.  As a symbol of Othello's trust and faith in his lover, its symbolic meaning fits it well: during the play, at the moment when Othello is first beginning to doubt Desdemona's faithfulness and become mistrustful of her, he says she has a headache but when she tries to comfort him by binding his head with the handkerchief he gave her, he throws it down, refusing it and thus indicating he doesn't trust her anymore. 
Similarily Othello's reference to candles (p 1449 ln. 7 (Sorry about the bad citations- I left my Perrine's book in my locker today, so I'm mostly going by my notes; I'll try to fix them as soon as possible! >.<") and symbols of Desdemona's life, as well as the comparison of her to a rose, may indicate his conflicted inner emotions about delivering the final act of killing her.  The way he descibes blowing out hte candle and picking the rose may also show one of his characterisitcs as a tragic hero: committing hamartia (doing something out of ignorance or for the greater good) and believing that he needs to be the one to "put out her light" in order to restore her former faithfulness in his eyes as well as prevent her "wily" ways from harming other people in the future (as Iago reminds Othello she did so to her own father). 
   Another symbol that's less Desdemona-related and more Cassio-related is perhaps wine.  Cassio laments its effects that caused him to stir up that violent scene with Roderigo and Montano while he was drunk, by saying, " O thou invisible spirit of whine, if thou hast no name to be known by let us call thee devil! (p 1399).  Thus it serves as a sort of demise to him by corrupting his nature, basic abilities to think and reason, as he says, "I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial." (2. 3. 242).  This line seems to indicate that the image he wants people to remember him as (polite, reasonable, civilized, nonviolent) has been stripped away by the impeding effects of the wine and reduced him to a mere primitive, uncivilized animalistic character.  The dramatic irony of it all comes when Iago makes this remark in response to Cassio's lamenting about the disastrous effects of wine: "Come, come, good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used." (2. 3. 280). Since it works to the advantage of Iago's scheming plans but unfortunate disadvantage of Cassio's reputation, it seems to symbolize Cassio's loss of control and his overall reputation.
   In addition the settings are symbolic as Venice and Cyprus are different both in society and environment.  As a territory of Venice and a more easily disputed area, Cyprus is more of a war zone, more focused on military camps and more populated with members of the military since there is less control and overall safety.  Possibly, it could be said to be symbolic of Iago (dangerous, fighting-focused); it's circumstances may also have played a part in bonding Iago and Othello, and causing Othello to trust more in Iago over Cassio because perhaps in that war zone environment, Othello felt he could trust Iago more (because of his real battlefield experiences while Cassio studied war more as a scholar or military tactician than a soldier in action).