Ludvig Holberg

• Born: December 3, 1684
• Birthplace: Bergen, Norway
• Died: January 28, 1754
• Place of death: Copenhagen, Denmark

Other Literary Forms

Although he is regarded today mainly as an author of comedies, Ludvig Holberg spent only two short periods of his life writing in that genre. A man of the Enlightenment, he wrote extensively in history, biography, law, and moral philosophy. Among his many works of nonfiction is an important autobiography. In addition, he is one of the most prolific essayists in both Danish and Norwegian literature.

Closer to his comic authorship are his novel Nicolai Klimii iter Subterraneum (1741; Journey to the World Underground, 1742), his satires, and his long mock-heroic poem Peder Paars (1722; English translation, 1962), which narrates the woefully unheroic journey of a merchant and his clerk from the town of Kallundborg to that of Aarhus, where the merchant is to visit his fiancée.

Achievements

Ludvig Holberg stands as the originator of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. He not only introduced the essay as a genre in Denmark and Norway and established a native comic tradition but also created a literature for a new public. Earlier writers had addressed a select group of state officials, particularly pastors, who possessed the education and knowledge necessary to appreciate their writing, while Holberg appealed to a bourgeoisie that was growing rapidly both in numbers and in influence. His contemporary success as a writer can be explained with reference to that fact.

His later success, however, depends entirely on the intrinsic quality of his art. Holberg is still considered Denmark’s greatest dramatist, and in Norwegian literature he is eclipsed only by Henrik Ibsen. His comedies continue to be performed regularly in both his native land and in his adopted country. More than half of them have been translated into English, as have Peder Paars and a number of Holberg’s prose works.

Biography

Ludvig Holberg was born on December 3, 1684, to Christen Nielsen Holberg and Karen Lem. His father was of peasant stock but had worked his way from the rank of private to that of lieutenant colonel in the army. His mother came from a clerical family including several educated men.

Holberg’s father died when the boy was two years old, and his mother passed away in 1695. The child, who had attended the German school for boys and the grammar school in Bergen, was sent to live with his mother’s country cousin. In 1698, he returned to Bergen, where his uncle and guardian, the merchant Peder Lem, took him into his family, and Holberg grew up in Bergen amidst the enterprising burghers of the city.

He returned to the grammar school, but a fire in 1702 reduced it and most of Bergen to ashes. Members of the senior class were sent to Copenhagen, where Holberg matriculated at the university. He soon came back to Norway, however, and found a position as tutor and spiritual assistant in the home of the rural dean at Voss, northeast of Bergen. Returning to Copenhagen in the fall of 1703, he passed his theological examinations in April of 1704.

At the age of eighteen Holberg had gained control of a small inheritance, which he converted to cash to finance travel abroad. He spent a year in Holland and then returned to Norway, having run out of funds. He spent the winter as a tutor in the city of Kristiansand, and the following spring he traveled to England in the company of a fellow graduate in theology.

He returned to Copenhagen in 1708, having spent his time in Oxford and London. After another year as a tutor, during which part of his duty was to accompany a young man on a journey to Germany, he was given lodging at Borch’s College and was thus free to pursue his scholarly interests. The result was his first book, Introduction til de fornemste europæiske rigers historier (1711; introduction to the principal kingdoms of Europe).

Holberg’s ambitions at this time were most likely directed toward a career at the University of Copenhagen. By 1711, he applied to the king for censors to be appointed to examine a work of history that he was contemplating, and about 1714 he applied for a professorship, probably on the strength of a historical work that was never published in the form it then had. He received a promise of the next available professorship, but the position of adjunctus professor philosophiae, in fact an academic promotion, carried no salary. It did, however, put Holberg in a position of risking the loss of his present support, and he decided to guard against this danger by doing some study abroad.

He remained abroad for two years, traveling in Germany, France, and Italy. On his return home in 1716, he oversaw the publication of his second book, Moralske kierne: Eller, Introduction til naturens og folke-rettens kundskab (introduction to the natural law and the law of nations). The following year, he was finally given the promised professorship, which unfortunately turned out to be in metaphysics, a discipline that Holberg despised. In 1720, however, he advanced to the professorship in Latin literature, which was more to his liking.

About the same time, the desire for creative writing awoke in him. Inspired by a quarrel in which he had employed satiric devices to make his point, Holberg produced several satires and a large mock-heroic epic titled Peder Paars. From this work it was only a short distance to the writing of comedies. Holberg, who learned much from the plays of Molière, embarked on playwriting in 1722, when a theater in the vernacular was being established in Copenhagen, and during the next several years, the neophyte dramatist produced more than twenty comedies.

The development of the thriving new Danish theater came to a halt in 1730, when a Pietist king, Christian VI, ascended to the throne. The clergy actively labored in opposition to theatrical performances, and in 1731 a royal declaration expressed strong disapproval of anyone associated with the writing or performance of comedies. This led Holberg to return to his scholarly pursuits, and he produced a number of large historical works. His renewed interest in history was perhaps also a function of his having been made professor of that subject in 1730.

Nevertheless, Holberg was not able to leave creative writing completely behind. In 1741, he published his Journey to the World Underground, a Latin romance that, by telling about the protagonist’s discovery of a world inside the earth, enabled its author to expose countless contemporary follies. The book created a stir and was almost banned, for its message of tolerance was not appreciated by the king and his circle of Pietist advisers.

The struggle for tolerance was continued in Moralske tanker (1744; moral thoughts and epistles). After the death of the king in 1746, however, the theater was revived, and Holberg was again free to write comedies, but his later plays are more philosophical and less amusing than the early ones.

His frugal habits and the sale of his books had enabled Holberg to amass a considerable fortune, which was safely invested in real estate. Because Holberg had no heirs, he wanted his wealth to be used for the public good. The reestablishment of a school for young noblemen, Sorø Academy, presented an opportunity for the wise disposition of his property, which at the same time was designated the Barony of Holberg. Through the donation Holberg also was given considerable say in the academy’s curriculum.

Holberg died on January 28, 1754. He remained busy planning new editions of his works and selling his books to the end of his life.

Analysis

Ludvig Holberg grew up among the burghers of Bergen, representatives of a class that at that time was starting to come into its own. The scholar and dramatist shared their basic values, and in his comedies he catered to their tastes. Holberg was also a man of considerable learning, and as such he never doubted his competence as a judge of good and evil and prudence and folly. His background in the emerging bourgeoisie and his position as an intellectual leader combine to explain the form of his comedies.

The typical Holberg comedy is constructed according to the rule of Horace, in that it attempts to instruct the audience at the same time that it entertains. The comedy is centered on a character who has one dominating weakness, and around this figure are placed both schemers and innocent characters who suffer because of the central figure’s follies. The characters onstage are also typical of the people in the audience, for although people are basically rational beings, they are also afflicted with all manner of caprices, obsessions, and strange notions. By holding up a mirror in which the audience can get a clear view of itself, Holberg attempts to remove some of this folly and strengthen the rule of reason.

The Political Tinker

Holberg’s first play, The Political Tinker, has struck a later age as antidemocratic, in that its central character, a Hamburg pewterer named Herman von Bremen, is soundly thrashed by the author for his desire to become involved in political life. His basic fault is that he neglects his work in order to read books about politics and engage in useless discussions with equally silly companions. Herman also possesses a considerable amount of pride, however, and it can be argued that he is punished for this rather than for his wish to influence life in the society in which he lives. There is indeed little desire for true understanding to be detected in Herman von Bremen; his “politics” is a means to satisfy his vanity and desire for power rather than the expression of a genuine wish to be of service to his fellow citizens.

Those who suffer most from Herman’s folly are his wife Geske, his daughter Engelke, and Antonius, a young man who wishes to marry Engelke. Geske must watch Herman destroy both his reputation as a reliable craftsperson and the family finances, while Antonius and Engelke cannot get married because of the father’s desire to get a son-in-law who is as interested in politics as himself. The schemers in the play are two men, Abrahams and Sanderus, who inform Herman that he has been elected mayor by the city council. This is according to a plan supported by some of the councilmen, who are annoyed at Herman’s criticism of city politics.

As soon as Herman believes that he has been elected mayor, his vanity and lust for power take complete control of him. Much comedy results from his attempts to imitate his social superiors as well as from the way that his wife and servants cope with his elevated standing. Herman changes his last name to Bremenfeld, Geske is no longer permitted to get up at sunrise and has to acquire a lapdog, and the servant Henrich takes advantage of the situation by soliciting bribes from visitors to the “mayor.”

Herman soon gets his just reward. According to the plan, he is presented with a number of difficult problems, and he discovers that he is totally unfit for his job. In the end, he regrets ever having wanted to be mayor and is immensely relieved when the truth of the matter is revealed to him. He swears never to read another book about politics, promises to do his work as he did before, and welcomes Antonius as his son-in-law.

The Political Tinker is, in the final analysis, not only a play about a political eccentric but also a discussion of the opposition between appearance and reality, what a person thinks he is and what he really is, and what happens when a person is robbed of his illusions. As such it is a play of universal interest.

Jeppe of the Hill

The basic motif in The Political Tinker is the age-old story of the man who is lifted up from a lowly station to a position of prominence for a short period of time. The same motif is employed in Jeppe of the Hill, but while Herman von Bremen is a German burgher, Jeppe is a Danish peasant. He is also a drunkard who squanders his family’s meager substance. He is henpecked by his wife, Nille, and is made a cuckold by the local sexton.

Holberg borrowed the plot of Jeppe of the Hill from the German Jesuit Jacob Bidermann’s fictitious travel memoir Utopia (1640). While Jeppe is drunk and asleep, he is found by the local baron and his men and, for sport, is placed in the baron’s bed. When awake, he is made to believe that he is the baron. The power is too much for him, however, and he begins to behave in a most tyrannical fashion. He attempts to take indecent liberties with the wife of the bailiff of the estate, and knowing that the bailiff cheats his lord, he wants to punish him by hanging the bailiff, his wife, and his seven children. When he gets drunk again, he is placed where he was found, after which he is accused of having entered the manor unlawfully and is condemned to die by poisoning and subsequent hanging. Strung from the gallows with the rope fastened under his arms, he is found by his wife, Nille, who believes that he is dead and who now regrets having treated him so harshly during his life. Jeppe awakens and asks for a drink, however, and this removes all traces of sympathy from his wife. Against her wishes, he is given his life back by the same mock court of law that had condemned him to death in the first place. Shortly thereafter he is informed that his experiences are not real, but only a joke played as a diversion for the baron.

Holberg’s aristocratic attitude is revealed by the fact that he lets the play’s main character be used deliberately by his social betters. As in The Political Tinker, the moral of Jeppe of the Hill is that one should not aspire to change one’s lot in life. Even more damaging, however, is the fact that the play’s representatives of the upper class seem also to represent Holberg’s concept of reason’s rule over ignorance and folly. It is true that Jeppe is an ignorant peasant, but it must also be remembered that the sins for which he is being punished are the result of the baron’s men having duped him in the first place.

A present-day audience will view Jeppe as both a comic and a tragic figure. The enduring appeal of the play resides in the fact that Jeppe, the prototype of a subjugated man, displays true humanity in the midst of degeneration. Caught in a static and rigid society, trapped in an unfair economic system and condemned to a frustrating marriage, there indeed seems to be no exit for him.

Erasmus Montanus

Like Jeppe of the Hill, Erasmus Montanus takes place in a small Danish village. Rasmus Berg, the son of a prosperous farmer, is returning home after the completion of his studies at the University of Copenhagen, and the play shows how he relates to the milieu in which he has his origin. The comedy can be viewed both as a satire on the young candidate, who in the manner of the learned has Latinized his name and taken on what Holberg considered the silly habits of academic life, and as an attack on the ignorance and superstitions so common among the rural population.

The local society is represented by an ignorant sexton named Peer, Jesper, the stupid bailiff representing the local landlord, Erasmus’s parents, Jeppe and Nille, Erasmus’s brother Jacob, Erasmus’s fiancée Lisbed, Lisbed’s stubborn father Jeronimus, and Jeronimus’s wife, Magdelone. The most admirable character here is Jacob, who possesses an abundance of sound practical sense.

Erasmus also has his share of human follies, however. He has acquired the trappings of a university education but none of its substance. Arguing for the sake of argument only, he soon offends his future father-in-law by maintaining that Earth is round rather than flat. This is perceived by Jeronimus as an atheistic doctrine, and he therefore refuses to allow Erasmus marry his daughter. Erasmus’s dilemma is now the following: He may maintain what he objectively knows to be true, namely that Earth is round, and lose the girl he loves, or he may assent to Jeronimus’s error and marry Lisbed. This might make Erasmus look like a martyr for the cause of truth, but this he is not. The reason that he is unwilling to agree with his father-in-law is not that he loves truth but that he is afraid his reputation at the university will suffer.

Erasmus’s dominating weakness is thus the old sin of pride. The people who suffer because of him are first his parents, who are being made a laughingstock because of their son’s actions, and second his fiancé, who desperately wants to marry him. The conflict is resolved only by the aid of an outsider, a lieutenant who tricks Erasmus into enlisting in the army. When the learned young man has been subjected to military drills and whipped into humility, he is more than willing to admit that Earth is flat. By recanting, he is able both to get out of the military and to marry Lisbed, and everybody is happy. By the end of the play, Erasmus also appears to have learned the difference between empty academic form and the substance that ought to be the essence of academic study. This distinction was important to Holberg, who, above all, was a practical man. As in The Political Tinker and The Fussy Man, the victory over folly leads to the triumph of romantic love.

The Fussy Man

Like Herman von Bremen in The Political Tinker, Vielgeschrey in The Fussy Man causes a number of people, above all his daughter Leonora and her beloved Leander, to suffer from his caprices. Vielgeschrey believes that he has a host of things to do and not enough time to accomplish them; the reason is that he is unable to concentrate on one matter and get it out of the way. In reality he is no busier than most people. He already has four clerks to help him in his business but believes that he also needs an accountant, and he therefore wants to force his daughter to marry one. The man whom he has in mind, Peder Erichsen, wants Leonora only for her money. Vielgeschrey’s housekeeper, Magdelone, also suffers from his inability to bring anything to its conclusion, for she, being forty years old and unmarried, has been promised by her master that he will find her a husband.

The schemer in this play is Vielgeschrey’s servant girl Pernille, who allies herself with the old trickster Oldfux in order to save Leonora and Leander, satisfy Magdelone, teach Peder Erichsen a lesson, and, if possible, cause Vielgeschrey to develop some much-needed concentration by showing him where his behavior may lead. By carefully taking advantage of Vielgeschrey’s inability to concentrate and by further confusing him, Pernille manages to get Leonora married to Leander, whom Vielgeschrey believes to be Peder Erichsen, while Peder Erichsen marries Magdelone, whom he believes to be Leonora. When the victims of the trickery become aware of what has happened, Vielgeschrey is persuaded by his brother Leonard to forgive his daughter and son-in-law, while Peder Erichsen willingly settles for Magdelone as soon as he learns that she has three thousand dollars in the bank. It does not become clear, however, whether Vielgeschrey has learned anything from his experience.

Vielgeschrey, like Herman von Bremen, Jeppe, and Erasmus, has been instructed throughout the play by having had to suffer the consequences of his foolishness. As a man of the Enlightenment, Holberg was above all concerned with strengthening the rule of reason. By exposing the nature and consequences of its opposite, folly, he created comedies that have had enduring value for generations of readers and spectators.

Bibliography

Anderson, Jens K. Conflicting Values in Holberg’s Comedies: Literary Tradition or Social Teaching? Minneapolis: Center for Nordic Studies, University of Minnesota, 1991. This study examines the comedies of Holberg, with emphasis on the values that he portrays in them. Bibliography.

Argetsinger, Gerald S. Ludvig Holberg’s Comedies. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. A critical analysis and interpretation of Holberg’s comedic dramas. Bibliography and index.

Billeskov Jansen, F. J. Ludvig Holberg. New York: Twayne, 1974. A basic biography of Holberg that covers his life and works. Bibliography.

Housgaard, Jens. Ludvig Holberg: The Playwright and His Age up to 1730. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press, 1993. A study of the works of Holberg and a description of the times in which he lived. Bibliography and index.

Rossel, Sven Hakon, ed. Ludvig Holberg: A European Writer: A Study in Influence and Reception. Atlanta, Ga.: Rodopi, 1994. An examination of Holberg’s works, with particular emphasis on his critical reception and influence on other writers. Bibliography and index.