Summary of Othello
Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2

Scene 1

• On Cyprus. Montano (gov of Cyprus) and other Venetians are waiting to hear if Othello’s ship was wrecked during storms like all the Turkish ships were.
• As they are talking they see a ship but it turns out to be Des, Rod, Iago, and Emilia’s ship.
• They come on land and are wondering if Othello’s ship is ok. Immediately they find out it is also on its way. While they wait for the ship Cassio and Des tease Emilia about talking too much. Iago joins in reveals his ideas about women in general: no matter who they are, they are lazy in everything except sex.
• Des plays along with this.
• Then Cassio takes her aside to talk about Othello’s arrival. He grabs her hand and Iago sees this as Cassio’s way of showing affection to Des, who doesn’t remove her hand. He plans to use this against them to make Othello jealous and to hopefully remove him from his new position of lieutenant.
• Othello arrives, greets his wife, then tells everyone they need to celebrate their victory. Everyone goes to the castle except Rod and Iago who are to get Othello’s things from the ship.
• Iago tells Rod Des will soon be sick of Othello and long for someone else to fill her lust. But Des’s first choice would be Cassio. Rod believes Des was just being polite by no taking her hand away from Cassio and does not really like him. But Iago convinces him otherwise and says he must start a quarrel with Cassio tonight. This will make Othello dislike Cassio and take away his position.
• Iago reveals in a soliloquy that he also lusts after Des and wants to get revenge on O because he believes O has slept with his wife. So, he wants a “wife for wife”. But if he can’t get revenge by sleeping with Des, Rod’s accusation of Cassio will make O suspect Cassio of sleeping with his wife and make O jealous.

     Scene 2

• Herald announces O is having a party to celebrate Cyprus’s safety from the Turks and his marriage.

Scene 3

• Othello leaves Cassio on guard after the celebration and advises Cassio to practice self-restraint. Othello then leaves with Desdemona to consummate their marriage. Iago joins Cassio on the watch and begins talking to Cassio about how beautiful and flirtatious Desdemona is. Cassio remain well-mannered during the conversation, although he is not comfortable with Iago’s suggestions regarding Desdemona; however, he ignores the comments and then agrees with Iago that Desdemona is a woman of perfection.
• Iago persuades Cassio to continue drinking with Iago and some other Cyprus soldiers, despite Cassio’s efforts to stop drinking to his inability to hold his liquor and the fact that he has already had drinks that have left him light-headed. Cassio goes to retrieve the other soldiers.
• Iago then tells the audience his plan of having Cassio drink more, having the soldiers continue to get drunk, and getting Roderigo, who is already drunk, to get into a fight causing Cassio to be stripped of his lieutenancy.
• Iago then lies to Montano and tells him that Cassio is a great soldier; however, he has a bad drinking habit and he drinks every night until he passes out. Montano is shocked and believes that Othello should be told, but Iago’s claims that he did not want to tell on Cassio, even if he was offered the entire island of Cyprus. He claims he wants to help Cassio.
• Cassio comes running drunkenly after Roderigo with his sword ready to strike. Cassio hits Roderigo. Montano intervenes in order to stop Cassio, but Cassio is so drunk and angry that he begins fighting Montano. Iago runs off to tell Roderigo to go scream and wake up the town and then get out of sight. When Iago returns, a huge brawl has broken out among several people.
• Othello comes and Iago screams for the fight to stop. The fight stops, and Othello demands to hear the truth. He asked Montano how Montano could let his own reputation of being calm under pressure be tainted by this street brawl. Montano replies and said that he did nothing wrong unless defending himself from Cassio who attacked and stabbed him was a crime.
• Othello is enraged and can’t believe that Cassio didn’t use his wits and judgment and dares anyone to keep fighting if they do not value their live. Othello demands Iago to tell the truth of what happened. Montano quietly tells Iago that Iago would not be a true soldier if he lies or down plays what happened just because Cassio is a friend and comrade. Iago acts like telling the truth is very difficult because it would slander Cassio, and he doesn’t want to hurt Cassio. This is all under false pretense. He wants to do just that: demean Cassio and have his lieutenancy stripped from him.
• Iago tells Othello that Iago and Montano were talking when Cassio came up following a “fellow” who Cassio began to attack. Montano tried to stop the fight, and Cassio attacked Montano. Iago tried to run after the “fellow” to stop him from waking up the town, but the guy was too quick for Iago and did exactly that: sound the bell and wake up the town. When Iago returns, he finds a large brawl has broken out, and Othello and company arrived shortly after. Iago said Cassio was enraged and cursing, which is something Iago was quite shocked to hear and see. Iago tries to make excuses for Cassio to make it seem like Cassio just made a bad choice but he must have been truly insulted by “the fellow” if Cassio attacked him.
• Othello thanks Iago for been so kind and honest and then tells Cassio that although Cassio means a lot to him, Othello no longer will allow Cassio to be his lieutenant or in his army at all.
• Desdemona is awakened which further angers Othello. Othello tells his wife that there is nothing to worry about, and soldiers are used to be awakened to violence since they are used to being in battle. He then tells Montano that he will make sure his wounds are tended to and then he leaves with Desdemona.
• Cassio and Iago remain, and Cassio is devastated to lose the one true thing that meant the most to him: his reputation. Iago thought Cassio was mortally wounded and said that losing his reputation is not as important as being physically hurt. Iago tells Cassio that the only way Cassio has lost his reputation if Cassio feels that way about himself. Iago tells him that Cassio can remedy the situation with Othello, who is angry right now and has had to strip Cassio of his title more to appease Cyprus. Iago tells him that Cassio should go talk to Othello to get his title back.
• Cassio then said he would not do that after the fool he made of himself. He couldn’t believe he was a rambling drunk, slurring, shouting at his own shadow, and even cursing. He is so ashamed of his behavior and says that wine should be renamed the devil.
• Iago asked who offended Cassio and what he did to offend Cassio; Cassio couldn’t remember anything other than there was a guy and a quarrel. Cassio still couldn’t get over how men can drink liquor that will only dull their brains and decision making and turn all drunk men into nothing but wild beasts.
• Iago notices that Cassio is sober now, and Cassio said that is because drunkenness was replaced with anger when the fight started; he sobered quickly and he hates himself for being drunk. Iago believes Cassio is being too hard on himself, and that Cassio needs to accept what happened, deal with it, and try to remedy it. Cassio is afraid to talk to Othello because he fears his general will call him a drunkard, which would break his heart and silence all of his mouths if he were a hydra. Iago tries to comfort him and tell him that wine is fine to drink as long as you don’t drink to excess.
• Iago reminds Cassio of how much Cassio means to Iago and then tells Cassio that the route to take to getting his status and reputation restored is to go ask Desdemona who can get her husband to do anything she wants. Cassio is grateful for such great advice. She will be able to mend this broken fence between Cassio and Othello.
• Cassio says he will go see Desdemona first thing in the morning. He fears what future he will have if he waits too long and if this punishment isn’t lifted.
• They say goodbye.
• Iago speaks to himself and wonders how anyone could think of him as a bad guy or villain when he has just given such great advice to Cassio for the sole purpose of helping him. He is sure that kind hearted Desdemona will feel the need to help a good cause such as poor Cassio losing his rank and reputation. Again, why would anyone think he is a bad guy? He laughs wickedly and says how evil this plan actually is. He is merely playing the saintly role of being an angel when in reality, like Satan who once was an angel who fell from Heaven, he is actually a devil in disguise.
• While Cassio is pleading his case to Desdemona, Iago is going to poison Othello with lies about Desdemona actually desiring Cassio and wanting him to have his job restored for her personal pleasure only. When Desdemona does come to Othello to plead Cassio’s case, Othello will already be jealous and fearing Desdemona’s infidelity. Thus, Desdemona will only make Othello hate Cassio more and no longer believe she is virtuous and honorable. Her own goodness will ruin her and will be the trap to catch them all.
• Roderigo arrives and feels dejected by being beaten by Cassio, almost broke, and not any closer to getting his prize of Desdemona. He decides to admit defeat and go back to Venice. Iago says he is pathetic for not having patience and broken hearts as well as evil plans take time to put into place and complete when humans are involved. Go back to the inn and get some rest. Iago tells him he will meet with him in the morning.
• When Iago is alone, he says that he needs to complete 2 tasks. The first is to get his wife Emilia to intercept Cassio before he sees Desdemona, thus buying Iago enough time to talk to Othello and make Othello so jealous about Desdemona and Cassio. Then, when Cassio goes to talk to Desdemona to seek her help in getting his job back, Iago will make sure Othello witnesses this exchange, causing Othello to be insane with jealousy and think the worst of Desdemona. He wastes no time in going through with his plan.