SOURCE: Gunter, Elizabeth Ellington. “The Function of Vinius in Othon.” French Review 55, no. 2 (December 1981): 188-92.

In the following essay, Gunter investigates the character of Vinius in Otho, maintaining that he can be viewed “as a mock hero whose main function is to serve as a dramatic and psychological foil for Othon.”

Critics have claimed that the imperial advisors in Corneille's Othon come close to dominating the action of the play. Among these advisors, Lacus and the ex-slave Martian are obviously self-interested, ambitious villains who possess no redeeming qualities. Vinius, on the other hand, appears more complex and so has elicited more comment. Nevertheless, Claude Abraham condemns him as “a double-dealing mediocrity,”¹ and Marie-Odile Sweetser adds that his “bassesse” and “malhonnêtet锲 make him unworthy of any sympathy. André Stegmann, however, declares that he is “moins coupable, contraint qu'il est, comme tous, d'essayer d'éviter le pire, en usant...