ERASMUS MONTANUS, comedy in five acts by Holberg; translated by 0. J. Campbell and F. Schenck. It was written before 1723 but not produced till 1747. It did not at once score such a success as many of his other comedies. Now, however, it is considered not only to be an excellent picture of the times, but it has its value for all times as showing the contrast in life between appearance and reality and also the demand, strong then as now, that the individual seek the truth for its own sake.
Erasmus, the son of a well-to-do peasant, has studied at the university and now is on a visit to his parents in the village, called 'The Hill? As he has tasted of the tree of knowl edge, he wants to show off his great learning, claiming to be able to "prove" in a logical way any assertion, however foolish, he makes. His arrogant ways and hair-splitting methods arouse the antagonism of all. Through the (Lieutenant( who is Holberg's mouthpiece in the comedy, Erasmus is properly punished, and he is finally compelled to renounce the only true assertion he has made, viz., that the earth
is round.
In the leading character, Erasmus Montanus, with his insufferable intellectual conceit, ac quired at the university, Holberg attacks the methods and aims of this seat of learning, ridicules the academic pedantry, the formalism of logic and the Latin disputations as prac tised at the time. Holberg knew that among the peasants, ignorant though they were and often so sadly neglected, there was a good deal of common sense. In Jacob, Erasmus' brother, Holberg has presented, in a most humorous manner, the contrast to the vain and empty "learning') of the hero. In Peter the deacon, Jesper the bailiff, Jeronimus whose con servatism shrinks in terror from anything that is new, Holberg shows his mastery in drawing character, and in the scenes in which they figure, the author's humor is at its best. Many sayings in this comedy are common property in the current speech of the Scandinavian countries even to-day. Consult Campbell, 'The Comedies of Holberg.'