Desdemona into the room, Desdemona rises weakly to defend Othello, then dies. Eventually, Othello learns of Desdemona's faithfulness after Emilia exposes Iago of his true nature before being stabbed to death by Iago, and out of complete remorse, Othello commits suicide, but only after angrily stabbing Iago (though not fatally) as retribution for his lies against Desdemona. Desdemona's cousin Lodovico then orders that Iago be tortured and executed. Desdemona's banter with Iago and Emilia at their arrival in Cyprus (2.1.100ff) has been traditionally regarded as distasteful and cut on moral and artistic grounds, being deemed unworthy of a noble tragedy such
Desdemona as "Othello" and out of character for Desdemona. Today, however, the purpose of the passage is sometimes viewed as a depiction of Desdemona's awareness of the way of the world, and her persistence in pursuing the exchanges as a characteristic innocent overconfidence displayed elsewhere in the play (3.3.41–83, 3.4.90ff). On 8 December 1660, Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company acted "Othello" at their Vere Street theatre, with Margaret Hughes as Desdemona – possibly the first time a professional actress appeared on a public stage in England. She played Desdemona in the performance of "Othello" seen by Samuel Pepys on 6 February