Like Act I, scene ii, the first scene of Act II begins with emphasis on the limitations of sight. Montano asks,

“What from the cape can you discern at sea?”

and the gentleman replies,

“Nothing at all: It is a high-wrought flood;”

The emphasis on the limitations of physical sight in a tempest foreshadows what will, after Act III, become Othello’s metaphorical blindness, caused by his passion and rage. Similarly, once the physical threat that the Turks pose has been eliminated, the more psychological, less tangible threat posed by inner demons assumes dramatic precedence.

The play extinguishes the external threat with almost ridiculous speed. The line “News, lads! Our wars are done,” is all that is needed to dismiss the plot involving the Turks. It is as though one kind of play ends at the end of Act II, scene ii, and another begins: what seemed to be a political tragedy becomes a domestic tragedy. Whereas the action of the play began on the streets of Venice and proceeded to the court and then to the beaches of Cyprus, it now moves to the passageways of Othello’s residence on the island and ultimately ends in his bedchamber. The effect is almost cinematic—like a long and gradual close-up that restricts the visible space around the tragic hero, emphasizing his metaphorical blindness and symbolizing his imprisonment in his own jealous fantasies. This ever-tightening focus has led many readers to characterize the play as “claustrophobic.”

The banter between Iago and Desdemona creates a nervous, uncomfortable atmosphere, in part because their levity is inappropriate, given that Othello’s ship remains missing. The rhyming couplets in which Iago expresses his misogynistic insults lend them an eerie, alienating quality, and Desdemona’s active encouragement of Iago is somewhat puzzling. Once again, Desdemona establishes herself as an outspoken and independent woman—she does not depend upon her husband’s presence either socially or intellectually. However, Desdemona does not suggest that she has any interest in cheating on her husband. Iago himself tells us that he will make a mountain out of the molehill represented by Cassio’s holding of Desdemona’s hand.

Although Iago verbally abuses women in this scene—presumably because it is safe for him to do so—his real resentment seems to be against those characters who have a higher social class than he does, including Cassio and Desdemona. Iago resents Cassio for being promoted ahead of him, and Cassio’s promotion is likely due to his higher-class status. At the beginning of the play, Iago argued that he ought to have been promoted based upon his worth as a soldier, and he expressed bitterness that

“Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation”.

In Act II, scene i, Cassio contributes to Iago’s anger by taunting the ensign about his inferior status:

“Let it not gall your patience, good Iago,
That I extend my manners. ’Tis my breeding
That gives me this bold show of courtesy.”

Not long afterward, Iago makes fun of Roderigo for being “base” (meaning lower class), even though the play does not indicate that Roderigo is, in fact, of lower status than Iago.

In the soliloquy that concludes Act II, scene i, Iago once again explains quite clearly what he intends to do, despite his comment that his plan is “yet confused”. At the same time, his statements about what motivates him are hazy and confusing. Is he motivated by lust for Desdemona, envy of Cassio, or jealousy over his wife’s supposed affair with Othello? He even throws in a bizarre parenthetical suspicion that Cassio might also have slept with his wife. It is as though Iago mocks the audience for attempting to determine his motives; he treats the audience as he does Othello and Roderigo, leading his listeners

“………………by the’ nose
As asses are”.

For each of Iago’s actions, he creates a momentary and unimportant justification.

The brawl in Act II, scene iii, foreshadows Act V, scene i, where Cassio is stabbed and Roderigo is killed in a commotion outside a brothel. Cassio’s comments about his own drinking, along with Othello’s warning to Cassio at the scene’s opening, show that -Cassio is predisposed to licentiousness, and Iago, always skillful at manipulating human frailties, capitalizes on Cassio’s tendency to get himself into trouble in situations involving pleasures of the flesh. Further evidence of Iago’s skill as a manipulator is his ability to make Roderigo virtually invisible in the scene. Once Cassio has chased him across the stage and stabbed Montano, no one gives a second thought to the man who may or may not have begun the fight. No one seems to have any idea who Roderigo is (even though he is always onstage, even in the court scene of Act I, scene iii), and Cassio cannot even remember what they -quarreled about.

When, in the middle of the commotion of Act II, scene iii, a sleepy Desdemona enters and asks,

“What’s the matter, dear?”

Othello is the consummate gentle husband:

“All’s well now, sweeting; Come away to bed”

Othello and Desdemona’s marriage appears to be sheltered from outside forces. Othello has just stopped the brawl, punished Cassio, and taken care of Montano; he is now ready to return home with his wife. By way of apology to his new bride for the inconveniences of her new way of life, he says,

“Come Desdemona. ’Tis the soldiers’ life
To have their balmy slumbers waked with strife.”

This is the last time we will see the couple so happy. The next time Othello sends Desdemona to bed is at the beginning of Act IV, scene ii, when he is preparing to kill her.

At the beginning of the scene, Othello says to Desdemona:

“Come, my dear love,
The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue;
The profit’s yet to come ’tween me and you.”

This comment seems to indicate that the couple has not yet consummated their marriage—the “purchase” is the wedding, and the “fruits” are the sex. Alternatively, Othello could be saying that he and Desdemona have consummated their marriage—“the purchase” is Desdemona’s virginity, and “the fruits” could be pleasant sex as opposed to the pain of the consummation.

Iago has now interrupted Othello’s conjugal efforts twice. Iago’s speeches clearly show him to be obsessed with sex. For instance, when Othello bursts onto the scene and demands to know what is going on, Iago answers by comparing the party to a bride and groom undressing for bed. He seems to take great pleasure in preventing Othello from enjoying marital happiness. Some readers have suggested that Iago’s true, underlying motive for persecuting Othello is his homosexual love for the general. In addition to disrupting Othello’s marriage, he expresses his love for Othello frequently and effusively, and he seems to hate women in general.

As Othello breaks up the brawl, he demands,

“Are we turn’d Turks, and to ourselves do that
Which heaven hath forbid the Ottomites?”

Othello, himself an “other” on the inside of Venetian society, and one who will ultimately upset the order of that society, calls attention to the potential for all external threats to become internal. It is that potential which Iago will continually exploit.