TNTL 118/1

Frans-Willem Korsten

Legitimatie, allianties, natievorming en mannenliefde: de retorische werking van verhalen en argumenten in Joost van den Vondels Gebroeders

Abstract -- David is usually seen as the protagonist in Vondel’s Gebroeders (1640). However, the play is largely an argumentative dispute, in which one can hardly speak of one protagonist. In the dispute two women, Michol and Rispe, play a major role. Moreover, ‘Gebroeders’ not only refers to the group of seven executed relatives, but also to David’s relationship with Jonathan. The story of that relation is one of the many stories that interact with the arguments. The interaction of stories and arguments is used rhetorically in Gebroeders in order to address issues of family ties, loyalty and alliances, which, at that time, were of vital political and economical importance.

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