Coming after the emotional intensity of the previous scene, this scene looks at some of the same themes from different viewpoints. In particular, it takes a more roundabout look at jealousy.
The Clown provides some contrasting comic relief, taking words only at face value, and this little diversion covers the plot move where Desdemona sends for Cassio. Desdemona has an underlying worry, the loss of the handkerchief, but Emilia, who does know what happened, does not tell her. Desdemona is confident, or at least hopeful, that her husband is not jealous, while Emilia suspects that all men are jealous.
The interview between Othello and Desdemona begins stiffly and formally: "Well, my good lady" (30), and she, taking her cue from him, answers formally. They speak at cross-purposes, Othello claiming her moist hand indicates lust, she suggesting it means youth and innocence, and while making a speech on her need to curb her inclinations, the old happy love suddenly hits him again, and he acknowledges: "'tis a good hand, A frank one." (39). The bond between them is reestablished, and he calls her by a pet name, chuck. But the bond breaks when she mentions Cassio. Othello demands her handkerchief, which she cannot produce.
Othello tells the story of the handkerchief: it is an heirloom in his family, given by an Egyptian witch to his mother as a charm to keep her husband's love. If the handkerchief were lost, the love would go. This confection of far-fetched story elements seems to be believed implicitly by both Othello and Desdemona, who, under stress, ascribe wider powers and cosmic meaning to a handkerchief that, up until now, was simply a personal love token.
