Exposure

Paul Faustino #3

by Mal Peet

Otello is South America's star soccer player, and he's just signed a deal to play for a team in the southern part of his country, a region with a history of racism toward black northerners like Otello. Desmerelda is a white pop star and the daughter of a right-wing politician. Their marriage propels them to center stage, where they burn under the media spotlight. But celebrity attracts enemies — some very close to home. When a young girl is found murdered, Paul Faustino, veteran reporter for La Nación, witnesses the power of the media in making — and breaking — lives.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Fiction, Shakespeare, Soccer, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2009

About the author

Mal Peet grew up in North Norfolk, and studied English and American Studies at the University of Warwick. Later he moved to southwest England and worked at a variety of jobs before turning full-time to writing and illustrating in the early 1990s. With his wife, Elspeth Graham, he had written and illustrated many educational picture books for young children, and his cartoons have appeared in a number of magazines.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a fictional unnamed South American country (Brasil?): an exceptional Black footballer called Othello and an unattainable super-hot White popstar Desmerelda, who has a very powerful Right Wing father (Nestor Brabanta), fall for each other, hearts, minds and souls; meanwhile in the slums street kid Bush grifts all day to have some sort of life with his sister and their friend. This loose re-telling of Othello does two significant things, it tears up the rules for retellings and breaks the rules of Young Adult fiction.

Very well written and very easy to get into, this 'Young Adult' drama treats its readers as adults, not shying away from overtly exploring (or should that be exposing) themes of racial disharmony, fragile male egos, wealth disparity, disenfranchised communities, the super rich, the press, celebrity and more, and Peet does it pretty well using the technique of having chapters from different points of view. The big no-no for this read is the complete lack of rationale reasoning for Diego (=Iago) spending so much time and energy trying to destroy Othello, as on the face of it, it looks so counter-intuitive.

There were a few more plusses, despite this book apparently being the third in a series, no back knowledge was needed in any shape or form; there are very few if any stereotypes despite the supporting cast not being fleshed out much; and last but not least we get a compelling and often dark story without the insertion/need for any sex scenes and/or detailed violence... nice to see a young adult read NOT normalising sex and violence. Pretty good read overall a Four Star, 8 out of 12

2022 read

[Christianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are great things about this book. The writing is solid. The peek inside of the building up and tearing down of a celebrity is interesting. Peet's treatment of kids who live on the street is thoughtful and compelling. This story is based on Shakepeare's Othello, and in general I do like books that are new takes on classics.

However, there is a big problem. The Iago character, named Diego, is deeply flawed. I just didn't understand why he was trying to ruin Otello, the main character. Diego is Otello's agent. He has everything to win from Otello's success. He could simply be jealous or racist I suppose. We learn that he doesn't think celebrities should be heroes, but that explanation is given one of the briefest chapters and doesn't make sense given Diego's chosen profession of managing star athletes and the fact that he makes millions doing so.

Also during Otello's fall from grace, we spend too little time in his head. He doesn't put up much of a fight. Maybe he is just tired and ready to be out of the limelight. Again though his reaction and choices just didn't seem authentic. Desmeralda is a better developed character in that regard.

[Chris Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a real page-turner of a book. Not the genre of book I'd normally pick up, but this novel is much more than the story of a top footballer and his superstar singer wife.

Set in fictional South American country, the book explores the huge gulf between rich and poor, wide-scale corruption and the plight of the all too numerous street kids. The characters, led out by journalist Paul Faustino, are engaging with the action alternating between the stars and the street kids, reflecting the vulnerabilities of both: the higher you climb, the further you have to fall. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a retelling of Shakespeare's Othello, but the parallels with the Bard's play give the novel an pleasing extra dimension.

The author cleverly combines the different POVs from which the story is told with a change of tense, interspersed with play script and newspaper headlines, giving it a heightened sense of immediacy. And there's humour too: why else would the extreme populist newspaper be called El Sol?

I read in another review that the author derived the name of Faustino's character from a brand of Spanish wine. I'm familiar with Faustino's Rioja and a glass or two would make a very pleasant accompaniment to the book!

This is the third in Peet's 'Paul Faustino' series, you wouldn't need to read the previous two to enjoy this, but I'd be keen to read the rest.

[Anthony Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This most recent of Peet's Paul Faustino novels (according to Peet, his character's surname is taken from a very servicable bottle of cheap Spanish white wine, by the way) is a treatment of 'Othello' which, I'll be perfectly honest, I picked up with mixed feelings.

I'm kind of over the whole 'sexing up Shakespeare for the kids' thing. Baz Lurhman did it beautifully, and others since have attempted to re-invent the bard in film and literature, few with any real degree of success to my mind. One notable Australian author did a particularly awful job of it recently. (of course, that's just IMHO).

So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Exposure - Peet's story of champion South American Footballer Otello, and his white, popstar wife Esmerelda (and, of course, his beautifully-named manager Diego).

I need not have worried.

Peet's novel is not so much 'sexing it up for the kids' as 'sexing up teenage writing for the adults'. As with his other novels, Peet manages to completely shy away from any of the traditional 'markers' of Young Adult Literature, and instead offers a refreshing, compelling, and very literary adaptation of Shakespeare's masterwork about greed and envy. There are shades of Posh and Becks in the treatment of Otello and Esmerelda, the literary allusions come thick and fast, but are at the same time beautifully understated, with the end result that a reader with no knowledge at all of Othello will find that it makes not the slightest bit of difference to their enjoyment of the novel.

Top work, Mr. Peet!

[Jane Branson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read, and I've realised I need to put all Mal Peet's novels on my to-read list. It's a loose retelling of Othello, updated with the hero recast as an iconic footballer (Otello's number is Beckham's 23) and his wife the pop-star daughter of a South American politician with her own cult-celeb status. Like Shakespeare, Peet explores some absorbing and philosophical themes - obsession, love, fame, family, jealousy- but he's also developing his sports journalist character Paul Faustino, for whom this is a third outing in a series of football themed books. I'm no sports fan, but the tight and pacy writing, as well as the Shakespeare links, had me completely hooked. There is a tense subplot, involving the fate of three street kids, that throws the corrupt state, the pointless media (El Sol, anyone?) and the decadence of the main characters into sharp relief. It's true that the motivations of Diego, Otello's agent, remain unclear, but then Iago's evil is pretty pure in form too. All this, and Peet writes the kind of prose that makes you forget you are reading.

[Tobias Hendrix]

The book “Exposure” by Mal Peet was a horrible and confusing book. In the start of the
book there is a street rat stealing from the rich and giving to the poor or homeless like himself,
he is like the Robin Hood of his time. Then the book goes into a new reporter, talking about the
trade between two sullen soccer teams, trading their best player Otello for a goalie. The book
continues in chapter three with the street rat, running from police, which has nothing to do with
this book, the street rat boy goes away in about chapter 5. As Otello the traded soccer player
goes on with his career and life, there is talk about having him killed. Many times throughout the
book it goes from plotting to have Otello kill, to new reporting, to MARRIAGE! The book though
horrible at sometimes made sense. The author Mal Peet is a confusing author taking the book
left and right time and time again. In act 2 or 3 of the book, the author focuses on the marriage
that happened and I do not see how it is relevant to the book at all seeming as how it has to do
with soccer. The book goes on and the author gets back into the soccer aspect of the book, but
in my mind did not clearly state why, the trading happened or if Otello was killed. In my opinion
as the reader of this book would be not to read it is a horrible book.

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
I read this book for school.
Therefore, my opinion of this book is slightly tainted as I didn’t want to read it.
The connection to Othello was done fairly well, but it was a bit over dramatic, rushed and unrealistic. The characters were not developed and the ending was abrupt and poorly planned.
Some parts were fast paced and entertaining, but overall this was a very average book and a less than enjoyable read...

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. This is one of Mel Peet's great books, I love the clever way he weaves political comment into his story. This is the story of Otello, the hottest footballer - he is living the dream, the most beautiful girl, the fabulous penthouse, the dream life. But there is a price to pay. It is also the story of the street kids of South America, their terrible lives and how quickly their world can come unstuck. Really everyone's life can come unstuck in this world. Corruption and shifty characters who have impact on other people's lives at all levels of society. From the street kids to the famous football player, the corruption, dodgy deals and political machinations abound. A great book for teenage boys, but Mal Peet's trick is that his books have so much resonance for adults as well as youth. He was a real master of the genre. He is sorely missed.

[Armando · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. The book contains characters that use marijuana, tobacco, alcohol, and have sex. There is an ongoing of murdering girls as well as raping young girls. The theme I found in this book teaches young teens the plight of children born into poverty. The book shows teens how racism can effect one person. Throughout the book the main character Paul Faustino a football world-weary reporter from an unnamed South America country who investigates the murder of a homeless teenager. Faustino devoted his life to football, amassing a library of cuttings and photos about the world's best players. The book shows us all levels of the society in which skinny kids earn a few pennies by making errands. Exposure is a book that any teen can read but if you don't like to read or listen to stories containing these type of criteria it would be best not to read it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Mal Peet back at the top of his game with the latest in the Paul Faustino series. I thought The Penalty was fairly dull compared with the elegance and simplicity of Keeper so it was good to see him produce a winner again.
Another South American football story - this time an updated version of Shakespeare's Othello. Even if kids are unfamiliar with the story of Othello, they will likely enjoy this tale. Reluctant male readers will particularly enjoy this as well.

[Anh Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning of the book, nothing made sense. Sometimes, it talked about a homeless kid, another time, it talked about a reporter smoking a cigarette outside of a prestigious building. The more I read, the more I became confused. It was boring so I left the book on the shelf for a couple days until I decided to give it another go. Realizing that all the things I read earlier was Peet's subplot leading and connecting it all to the main characters, Desmerelda, a pop star, and Otello, a football player. The book subtly but brilliantly talked and discussed about the issues that is very real in our world, football, skin color, homelessness, politics and celebrity culture. Everything blended well together and formed an amazing murder. "Exposure" exposed the reality we live in. Please read the book when you have the chance.

[Kristen Pollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant retelling of Shakespeare's classic through a modern lens. I loved the way Peet played with celebrity culture, race, class, and the human fascination with scandal to produce something that stands on its own and makes us question our media consumption.

[Kait]

Read for school

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

disappointing, in my opinion. the ending was bad, we didn't get enough of diego to make the plot work, overall just not a great book.

[Diana Eberhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad and excellent.

[Courtney Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I blogged this yesterday, when I was half-way through 'Exposure'

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I read a lot of YA, but I tend to read classics, or stuff that falls into the fantasy sci/fi category. I think I do this because YA set in this everyday world is often shallow, or modeled on the same dreary stuff that adult fiction is - so what's the point?

But I'm trying to self-medicate, and I'm starting with Mal Peet's Exposure. You might argue it's fantasy, but I don't care.

Exposure is the third in Peet's series of books about football (that's soccer to us NZers), set in a imagined South American country with one continuous character, leading sports journalist Paul Faustino.

This third book is a retelling of Shakespeare's Othello. Othello is a superstar soccer player, bought in from the North for fifty million dollars to play for Rialto. 'Born in the North, and famously proud of his African heritage', Otello comes to Rialto at the cost of the transfer of one of their white players, doesn't endear him to his team mates. All hell to break loose when Otello and americana (white) pop-star Desmeralda fall in love and marry - especially with Desmeralda's rich, powerful father, who is also a part-owner of Rialto, who objects to the colour of his new son-in-law's skin. Throw in Iago in the form of Otello's janus-faced manager Diego, and boom - you're off.

The story of Dezi and Otello - of paparazzi, charity auctions, and controversial product endorsements - is intercut with that of three street kids, living under the threat of the 'Rat-catchers' (government employees clearing the streets prior to an election campaign) and vague rumours of deaths and disappearances. There's something about the narrative structure that reminds me of the tv series The Wire - slices of society that rub up against each other almost unknowingly, but whose actions have flow-on effects, sometimes immense. And awash, of course, with corruption and emotion.

My favourite review of the book was a no-stars write-up on Google Buzz, with the reader complaining that "The story is improbable". Well - duh. Shakespeare is. People fall head over in heels in love after two sentences and a bit of merry gender confusion. With Exposure, you just need to accept it - of course two young hot kids from different side of the social divide are going to fall drastically in love - and then roll with it.

Exposure is a rollicking good tale. But the quality of the writing sets it apart. I'm half-way into the book and I know we're about to enter the 'murder mystery' storyline, and the slightly hard-boiled tone of the writing is perfect. One of my favourite passages so far:

Walking back to his car, Diego smiles. It's like walking on eggshells, talking to Otello about drinking. Diego likes the way they crunch beneath his feet.

So, sport. And life, death, love, and betrayal. If you want an equally gripping non-fiction take on all this, I highly recommend H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, about high-school football in Odessa, Texas, and the origin of the terrific (and scandalously badly-programmed) tv series of the same name.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sadly, the end of the book is both a bit abrupt and a bit too tightly sewn up. I think it would have been stronger if we had walked away from the characters left in more ambiguous positions.

My presumption that we were about to get to the murder-mystery also didn't pan out. I realised that of course I was reading a play -each character could be oblivious of others' actions, but as the audience, I witnessed everything - no reveal.

Despite this, 'Exposure' is a strong recasting of a classic tale, and really well written. I've now got 'Keeper', the first book in the series, sitting near the topic of my to-read pile.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not an historical fiction fan generally, but when I read Mal Peet's "Tamar" I was almost converted. So when his latest book, "Exposure," came out I thought I would give it a try. I was especially pleased that the book was not historical fiction. It is one of the rare books that I nearly abandoned. However, I ended up feeling that sticking with it was worthwhile. I stayed up late into the night reading the last hundred pages or so.

The concept of "Exposure" is interesting - a contemporary remake of Shakespeare's "Othello" set in South America and focused on soccer and celebrity. Unfortunately, there are many things that weigh this piece down. First of all, Peet can't decide whether this should be a novel or a dramatic script, so he ends up switching back and forth between the two formats - unsuccessfully I feel. Secondly, there is little that is subtle here. The action is very opaque. Thirdly, the characters, especially the protagonist Otello, are not well developed. We never get into Otello's head to find out what he is thinking about what goes on around him. He ends up being one-dimensional. The reader is not invested in him and, therefore, feels little about his downfall. Otello's wife, Desmerelda, and his agent, antagonist Diego Mendosa, are more convincingly rendered. This is the problem with not making a commitment to the format. With drama, which is written to be performed, the audience has the advantage of the actor's/character's physical actions and vocal tones, as well as the responses of the other actors/characters to this character, to figure out who he or she is. Finally, "Exposure" moves very slowly for at least 300 pages before things pick up. The plot ends in a satisfying manner, however, and all loose ends are tied up nicely.

There are many important themes in the book - the disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" in South America (especially where children are concerned), the dangers of celebrity (both for the celebrity and for the public), gangs, poverty, survival, alcohol abuse, corrupt government, racial tensions, etc. Less important themes are also explored, like the popularity of soccer in many parts of the world, and the apparent lack of interest in professional soccer in the United States.

Though there is potentially much to discuss here, it does little good when most teens won't see the book through until the end.

[Evan Neuser · Rating 4 out of 5]

When an African American soccer star marries a White pop star, racial tensions spark in the fictional country of Exposure. Exposure is the third book in Mal Peet’s series to feature his journalist Paul Faustino. Faustino dives deeper into the lives of Otello and Desmerelda, the two stars in the book. Otello is signed to the soccer club Rialto by the owner who everybody else disagrees with. Desmerelda is a pop star singer in the same country who is the daughter of the politician Nestor Brabanta. When the two of them get married, you can see everybody develop the idea that the two should not be together and are hurting the image of the country.
The prominent theme that the author elaborates on is the idea that the country is not accepting of new change. This is shown by the Latin American country signing an African American, Otello, to the soccer team. The whole team is not on board with the idea of having him on the team. Even some of the co-owners tried to kick him off. When him and Desmerelda get married, racist words and tensions fly throughout the country as the father of Desmerelda, Nestor, is persuaded not to let the two marry, but he allows it anyway. They are then targeted by an unknown source as one of their body guards becomes drugged and a huge story starts about the incident. This theme shows how an entire country of people can be intolerant of the new interracial couple.
The story never completely shows how the country felt about the two stars after the last act was completed. At times, it can be confusing what to follow since this book jumps around a lot. However, the book does a good job of showing how the racial tensions start in the beginning and unfold, but it unfortunately never shows how it came to an end. I can recommend this book to a person who can read with no distractions as it can be hard at times to follow where the story is heading since it jumps around.

[Enrique]

Book review

The author of this book is Mal Peet. There are 450 pages included in the book. The genre is fictional sports. How many characters are included in this book? In this book there are various characters. Otello is one of the main characters. He is a soccer player that went from the club Espirito Santo and then transferred on record to the club rival, Rialto, there he received various racist comments against him for being black. Esmeralda is a pop singer and then becomes the Wife of Otelo, they both have a child together. Diego Mendoza is the villain here, but he also is Otello’s manager. Digo wants to destroy his professional career. Michael cass is Otello’s bodyguard, also he is assigned by Otello to protect Desmeralda, but is fired afterwards for being involved in a bar fight. Paul Faustino is the writer of newspaper La Nación. He is helps the 3 orphans named Bush, Bianca, and Felicia. They are orphans of the street and they are always being hunted by Los Ratoneros. Bush and Felicia are siblings. The setting of the book is at a fictional country in South America. The name of the country is not mentioned as it is not important. Otello is trying to succeed in his new club, Rialto, but throughout his stay in the club he faces various problems, due to his Manager’s hate toward him. The themes of the story are to always have patience when you mostly need it and in the end you shall prevail. I personally thought that this book was very confusing because it talked about one thing and then jumped to another. The problem is that Diego Mendoza wants to get in the way of Otello’s successful career.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting reworking of Othello, with the action taking place in some unnamed South American country with serious race issues. OthelloOtello is a black footballsoccer star, traded to an almost all-white southern team. At a party to meet the Very Important People in his new city, he's introduced to DesdemonaDesmerelda (or Dezi), a Shakira-clone. IagoDiego, his manager, sets the tragedy in motion; the other players (Michael Cass, Hector Brabanto, Paul Faustino) all do their best to keep the plot rolling. There's even a Bianca, an Emilia and the Shakespeare PR company. Just in case you've missed the similarities. Oh, and some of the action takes place in movie/play format.

The problem is, it works. The themes of race, class and celebrity are timeless and Peet does a good job of showing that they haven't gone away. The setting - football/soccer, South America - keep the action just foreign enough to interest students, while more astute readers will realize that this could just as easily happen here in America.

According to the jacket, this is the third Paul Faustino novel (and yes, I know Faust isn't one of Shakespeare's creations). Guess I'll have to look up the first two.

[Candy Wood]

Transposing Othello to present-day Latin America makes for some interesting changes. Otello is a football star, bought by a southern team where his reception is racist but they need his skill--Desmerelda is a pop music star, daughter of a wealthy businessman who backs the Rialto team--Diego Mendosa is Otello's agent, working to destroy his client with even less motivation than Iago has to destroy Shakespeare's Othello. What makes it a YA novel is the presence of Bush, a street kid, and his sister Bianca, and although Peet sometimes goes into playscript and sometimes newspaper headlines, the presence of the journalist Paul Faustino as an observer means that the perspective is very different from that of a play. More characters survive in the end than do in Shakespeare's play, but it's a sad comment on our time that the Iago figure gets away with all his machinations. The book won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, announced 8 October 2009.

[Luis Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exposure is a good book; I would recommend it to people that like to read books about life. Exposure is also a book for people who really like reading because it’s a pretty long book. I liked it because this book talks about the life of a soccer player but it doesn’t only talk about his career it also talks about his life. I did not like how the book keeps switching from character to character though it was kind of confusing to me. The characters really reflect how complicated the life of a common person and the life of a celebrity is. My favorite character of the book is actually not the main character but the character that is poor and works really hard for a living. The author really explains how hard life on the streets is as well. This book is kind of hard to understand but overall is a good book.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrated by Christopher Lane. Otello and Desmerelda are the toast of the media. Otello is a famous South American soccer star and Desmerelda is a pop princess and daughter of a powerful conservative politician. He is black and she white, adding to the controversy and star power of their pairing. Behind the scenes of their glamorous romance however, Otello's agent Diego schemes to undermine his own client. Lane expertly unspools this story with a variety of nuances. He coos as Desmerelda, becomes measured as the scheming Diego, and deliberate during Faustino's thoughtful moments. He's a good reader but I have to say the story started to feel long for me and I never quite understood why Diego undermined his own client in such a dramatic way, other than he's just a sadist.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last in the Paul Faustino novels about soccer, and set in an un-named South American country. This one is loosely based on Shakespeare's Othello. It concerns Otello, a black star just signed to a new team and Desmerelda, a pup star and the daughter of the main patron of the team. They fall in love and marry, in spite of the opposition of Dezi's father. They become the power couple of their country, like Posh and Becks. Mixed in with this, is the story of 3 street kids, whose lives cross with Faustino, when one of them is murdered. An interesting and compelling novel, with a much broader appeal than just to the teen market.

[Marita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this new outing with sportswriter Paul Faustino, although it is so different to Keeper (I'm yet to read Penalty). As one of the characters says, football is politics in certain parts of South America, and racism comes into the mix as well as when black player from the north - the national captain no less - finds the transition to his new team difficult. Lots more complications as well, and a wonderful Othello trope which mixes it up a bit. The overlapping plots of three street kids trying to hold it together and Faustino's role, both peripheral and pivotal by turns, make this a satisfying narrative which packs some emotional punch without sticking to Shakespeare's script.

[Alonso · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Exposure was a decent book in my opinion. I didn't love it but I also didn't really hate it, it was somewhere in the middle in between those two. I really liked the chapters about Bush, they were probably my favorite parts of the book. For me most of the time it was boring like the part when they found Bianca it kind of surprised me because that part was really interesting for me. The thing that I didn't like about the book was that there were times where I forgot what characters where what. There were a lot of characters that sometimes I get confused when I am reading the book. I think that I will look for a different book next time, because it really wasn't my type of book.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems strange that I read two soccer stories in a short span of time and liked both of them. Also this tied in with watching many of the Women's World soccer series that was hosted by Canada this year. Yeah, team USA that won. Great game!
Back to the book - soccer becomes a game where a shot at fame is always just a kick away. The main character in this book, Otello is South America's best player and when he becomes married to a white pop star, we not only see racism rear its ugly head, but the story also weaves in a subplot about street kids and how challenging their survival is.
Its a very good read.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as a teen book, but quite worthy of an adult audience. Journalist Paul Faustino appears in Mal Peet's third book, this time without the voo-doo spiritual aspects of The Penalty and Keeper. Each book stands alone, however, and Exposure, a retelling and reworked Othello, continues Peet's previous themes of responsible journalism, race, class and celebrity.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mal Peet writes about soccer in a way that makes me curious about soccer. It is a religion, like baseball, but more emotional and intense - more Santeria than Nordic gods, perhaps. This is the third soccer-infused book I've read by him and I was not disappointed. The book is more than soccer, of course. Its also a retelling of Othello, only add the tabloids and other media to the story. And then it was about the idea of team work - what it is, is not, how its possible to play against your team without anyone knowing. Lots of ideas, twists and turns. Very enjoyable

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked reading "othello" then you have to read this book.

It iis a modern version of Othello.

In this book, Othello is a famous soccor player and Desdemona is pop singer. Of course they fall in love and get married.

However, everything goes downhill from there. Diego (Othello's agent) does everything he can to bring down Othello, due to jealousy and greediness.