Othello VI: Act 5 Scene 2 Lines 1-24

Othello attempts to make his reasoning for killing Desdemona consistent with his earlier statement that, if she wanted another man, he would let her go. He does so by considering, despite the techniques that Iago used to convince him, Desdemona not as disloyal purely to him, but as a disloyal whore in general. As such, he says that "she must die, else she'll betray more men" (V.ii.6). Iago told him that it was natural for Desdemona to seek a white man in preference to Othello, and Othello accepted that reasoning as a portion of why Desdemona was unfaithful. With little other reasoning behind why Desdemona was unfaithful, this limited information would imply that Desdemona merely preferred Cassio to Othello. Yet, Othello's anger is so great that it overwhelms this logical conclusion, and he believes that Desdemona, despite her purity of appearance, is an unfaithful person, and must therefore be killed such that she will be unfaithful to no other man.