In the previous chapters Dutch literary celebrity culture has been described in five case studies. How did poets manifest themselves during the nineteenth century as public figures? Willem Bilderdijk was analysed as a Calvinist celebrity. Hendrik Tollens became famous mostly for his role in creating a national identity. Nicolaas Beets, who as a student became inspired by Byron, was at the age of seventy celebrated as the Dutch Victor Hugo. Francois HaverSchmidt became famous thanks to his alter ego, Piet Paaltjens. After the publication of Max Havelaar, Multatuli acquired instantaneous celebrity status. All five succeeded in attracting much public attention and acquiring celebrity status in the Netherlands.

As has been mentioned, literary celebrity is connected to the rise of Romanticism. But what was the case in the Netherlands where Romanticism hardly got a foot in the door, as is often claimed? Even though there was some ‘flapping of wings, no real flying’ took place,1 and the couple of traces of (foreign) tendencies never developed into fullyfledged Romanticism. The romantic whim was short-lived – more or less from 1830 to 1840.

That Romanticism never took root in the Netherlands can be attributed to several factors. At the time there was some obsession with purifying the Dutch language and culture from foreign contamination. From 1795 the Netherlands was occupied by the French, which brought an end to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and the rule of stadtholder William V of Orange. Initially the Netherlands was permitted to control its own political system, but from the moment that Napoleon seized power in France, he strengthened his hold on the Netherlands. Between 1806 and 1810 the Netherlands was a monarchy with Louis Napoleon (Napoleon's younger brother) as king, but from 1810 inaugurated as a kind of colony of France. Napoleon introduced several unpopular measures, such as censorship and military service, and prohibited the Dutch from trading with England, which brought about an economic recession.

This gave way to a strong anti-French sentiment, and many poets started writing ultra-nationalistic poetry, which continued into the post-Napoleon period. In 1813 King William I – the son of expelled stadtholder William V – came to power. The hatchet was buried and, in the words of the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, everybody laid themselves to rest in the shadow of the Orange Tree.