After speaking with Iago for a short while, Othello is also convinced that he must take out his revenge on Desdemona. And, so, he immediately decides to kill her with the use of poison. Iago, however, tells him not to use poison. Instead, he should “strangle her in her bed” (197). Because the bed is where she supposedly committed her infidelity,
the bed should also be the place where she is punished. Othello likes the idea and says “the justice of it pleases” him (199). But Iago actually has a much different reason for wanting Othello to strangle or choke Desdemona to death. Poison might not work; a doctor might be able to save her in time. Or if she does die, Othello could always say she died of natural causes. Or perhaps the poisoning might be blamed on somebody else. In Iago’s mind, too many things could go wrong if poison is used. But if Othello strangles her, there is little chance that anything could go wrong. And, more importantly, Othello’s act will look like that of a madman. Iago’s goal is to ruin Othello entirely. If people believe Othello is mad, that will be his downfall.
Toward the end of the scene, a messenger named Lodovico arrives. He has just come from Venice and he is carrying an important letter for Othello. The Duke is immediately ordering Othello to return to Venice for important business, and Lieutenant Cassio is to take command of Cyprus while Othello is away (lines 228-29). The Duke, of course, does not know that Othello has fired Cassio. And Othello, who is still quite angry, upset, and irrational, is not pleased at all about the news. When Lodovico tells Desdemona that Cassio is to take control of Cyprus, Desdemona says she is happy about this news (line 230). She is happy that the problem between her husband and Cassio will finally be over. Othello, though, interprets her line differently. He is probably thinking that she will be happy to be alone with Cassio while he is away. Thus, he thinks that Desdemona is “mad” to announce such happiness before him (line 233). So, he hits her. Desdemona is stunned, and Lodovico can barely believe what he has just seen. After Othello exits, Iago speaks with Lodovico. Iago hints that Othello is completely mad. And, later, after Othello strangles Desdemona to death, Lodovico will not need any further convincing. He will believe that Othello is truly mad.
In the second scene Othello is still overly emotional and irrational. But he is also still fully convinced that his wife is having an affair with Cassio. And he still plans to strangle her. But, as Christian tradition dictates, the condemned man (or, in this case, woman) has the opportunity to confess his sins before being executed. Usually, a priest is called to hear the confession of the man who is about to be executed. In this play, however, Othello wants Desdemona to confess to him. He tells her she will be “double-damned” if she does not admit to having an affair (line 39). That is, she will be committing two sins: (1) adultery, and (2) dishonesty, which is a type of fraud. Othello is implying that by not confessing, she will be twice as sure to end up in hell. But Desdemona is innocent. She has no sin to confess. And so she tells Othello this, but he does not believe her. And believing her to be both a liar and an adulterer is too much for him to bear. For Othello, Desdemona is everything. She is his life. As Othello states, Desdemona is “where I have garnered up my heart” (59). By killing Desdemona, Othello will also be destroying himself.
To add to the emotional intensity of this scene, Shakespeare then inserts an instance of dramatic irony at this point. Despite Desdemona’s tearful pleas regarding her innocence, Othello will not believe her. He leaves, and Desdemona is worried and upset. Not knowing what else to do, she asks Emilia to bring her husband to her. Of course, Iago is actually the last person she should talk to. The irony of the scene intensifies when Emilia correctly guesses that some terrible person, some scoundrel, must have been telling lies to Othello (lines 134-37). And then Emilia adds that such a scoundrel should be whipped and punished most severely (lines 140-48). But, of course, at this point Emilia does not realize that the scoundrel she is talking about is her very own husband.