Everyone has heard about Lucifer or Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, or else about the Vondelpark in Amsterdam or about one of the many Vondelstreets in the Netherlands. Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679) is rightfully so called the ‘prince of poets’. I, Vondel is the autobiography of the old Joost van den Vondel himself. And what a life he has lived, he, the embodiment of the Golden Age! Admiration, yet also deep and utter humiliation befell him. Throughout his life, Vondel attracted mockery and made enemies when he dared to express his doubts concerning the punishing God of Calvinism. He couldn’t gather the courage to propose to the love of his life, he survived all of his children and found himself all alone at the age of ninety-two.

Hans Croiset delved deep into the life and soul of the beloved and reviled writer, and has this old and timeworn man, who stood at the foundation of the Dutch language and literature, search for the right words to express his doubts, his motivations and his world. I, Vondel is a unique portrait of the Golden Age, portraying a passionate man who struggled with many of the issues we face nowadays.