Shadows of Power in the Realm of metaphor: A Powetic Reading of Ambiguity and Discursive Exclusion in Shakespeare's Othello

This study investigates William Shakespeare's Othello through an extended theoretical framework termed Powetics, which synthesizes Michel Foucault's analytics of power, Jacques Derrida's radical metaphoricity, and William Empson's structural ambiguity. Moving beyond traditional rhetorical definitions, this paper conceptualizes metaphor and ambiguity as active mechanisms of power that enforce social inclusion, exclusion, and associative linkage. In Othello, language functions not as a neutral medium of representation, but as a site of discursive warfare. By manipulating linguistic ambiguities and deploying predatory racial and marital metaphors, Iago systematically deconstructs Othello's identity. He shifts Othello from an included general of the Venetian state to an excluded, marginalized "Other". Through a close descriptive-analytical reading of key speeches and exchanges, this paper demonstrates how Iago exploits systemic undecidability to force Othello into accepting a destructive reality. Ultimately, the study reveals that Othello's tragic downfall is not merely a personal moral failure, but the violent outcome of discursive coercion operating through the strategic control of metaphor and ambiguity.

کلیدواژه ها:

Powetics ، Metaphoricity ، Structural Ambiguity ، Discourse of Power ، Othello