Scene summary
Desdemona sends the clown to look for Cassio and tell him that she spoke on his behalf to her husband. Then she realizes she has lost the handkerchief and tells Emilia she would rather have lost a purse of gold, and that only the character of Othello, free of the baseness of jealous men, keeps the loss from leading him to suspicion. Othello arrives, says in an aside that pretending is hard, takes her hand and asks for the handkerchief, claiming a rheum. She says she does not have it there, and he tells her that the handkerchief was given to his mother by an Egyptian woman, with the promise that, while she kept it, she would be loved by her husband, and that losing it or giving it away would make the husband look at her with hatred. Desdemona is frightened and tries to speak of Cassio; Othello repeats "The handkerchief!", not letting her speak of Cassio, and leaves demanding it.
Desdemona tells Emilia that she has never seen Othello like this, and Emilia comments on what she thinks of men: a year or two is enough for them to reveal themselves. Iago and Cassio enter, and Cassio asks Desdemona to intercede; she replies that her husband has changed and that she spoke as well as she could, and Iago goes to look for Othello. Emilia fears the reason is not a matter of state but jealousy, and says that jealousy is a monster that begets itself. After Desdemona and Emilia leave, Bianca meets Cassio and complains of seven days without seeing him. He gives her the handkerchief, saying he found it in his room, so that she can copy the pattern, and sends her away because he is waiting for the general.
Analysis
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