Desdemona’s bedchamber.

Emilia helps Desdemona prepare for bed. Desdemona tells her that Otello had gently bade her to await him in bed. She asks Emilia to lay out her wedding nightgown, requesting that it be her shroud if she dies. Emilia discourages her morbid thoughts, but Desdemona is terribly sad. As Emilia brushes her hair, she sings an old song of disappointed love (“Salce”; “Willow”). She bids Emilia goodbye and embraces her as if for the last time. Then she prays (“Ave Maria”) and lies down to sleep.

Otello enters through a secret door. Putting out the light, he stops to kiss her before killing her. At the third kiss she awakens. He asks her if she has said her prayers and tells her to be sure to ask forgiveness for any unconfessed crimes, for he does not want to kill her soul. Terrified, she cries out for mercy, but he accuses her of loving Cassio. She frantically denies it. She tells Otello to bring Cassio there to verify her story, but Otello tells her that Cassio is dead. Desdemona again begs him not to kill her, to at least allow her time to pray, but it is too late. He begins to suffocate her.

Emilia bangs on the door. Otello lets her in, and she tells him that Cassio has killed Roderigo. Desdemona, near death, weakly calls out to Emilia, but refuses to name Otello as her killer. She bids Emilia farewell and dies. Otello admits that he has killed her because he had learned through Iago that she was Cassio’s lover. Emilia, stunned that he would believe such a lie, calls for help.

Lodovico, Cassio, and Iago rush in. Emilia tries to get Iago to tell the truth, but he refuses. Otello cites the handkerchief as proof of his wife’s infidelity. Emilia explains that she found the handkerchief and gave it to Iago. Montano arrives with soldiers and announces that the dying Roderigo has revealed Iago’s plot. Otello demands that Iago explain himself. Iago rushes off. Otello reaches for his sword, but Lodovico demands it from him. Otello tells them not to be afraid of him, for his journey is ended. He goes to Desdemona and embraces her body, crying out for her. Then he stabs himself, and, kissing Desdemona for the last time, dies.