History Theatre / ErasmusMontanus

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Erasmus' mother panics when Erasmus "proves" that she is a stone, and screams that her legs are getting stiff and cold. Erasmus has to quickly prove to her that she is ''not'' a stone.
* CharacterTitle

* RealityEnsues: Erasmus' "debate" with the Deacon results in this, since the peasants observing have no idea what either of them are talking about. Deacon Peer is just rambling nonsense, but the better-educated Erasmus has no logical way to respond to any of it because it is ''complete nonsense''. From an outside perspective, however, it looks like Peer put Erasmus in his place, and Erasmus is just trying to save face.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Deacon-Peer is very proud of his education, but for someone with just a passing knowledge of latin, or just basic knowledge of what latin ''is'', he has clearly been very poorly educated, or forgotten about everything. Among other things, he claims several latin words have their origin in danish.

--> ''Erasmus coins a persistent meme. [[BeamMeUpScotty Or not.]]''

Rasmus turns up, very proud of his newfound learning and eager to show off. He insist on being called by his latinized name Erasmus Montanus, peppers his speech with InsaneTrollLogic and latin phrases and falls into disputes with just about everybody he meets. At first the townspeople are impressed and a bit confused, but when Erasmus starts to insist that the Earth is '''round''', confusion turns to horror and anger, and they denounce him, lead by Jeronimus, who will not have his daughter marry such a madman. Both his parents, his brother and Lisbed tries to make Erasmus change his mind, but he insist that he alone knows best.

--> I only drink schnapps to help my digestion ... but I have a very weak stomach.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: Concerning the solution, because Erasmus has to withdraw his statement that the Earth revolves around the sun. We, and supposedly Holberg himself, know this is correct, but the peasants in the play - ''denies it''. Erasmus might, however, have gotten his point through if he hadn`t been so blatantly ''arrogant''.

* PlotHoles: It is established in the beginning of the play that Deacon-Peer is Erasmus' old teacher and a friend of his parents. However, when Erasmus meets him, he does not seem to know who he is.

--> No, I can turn you into an actual soldier. You see, I am a recruitment officer, and you just took my coin. Therefore, ..."

* MagicVersusScience: Closely verging on ClarkesThirdLaw, because Erasmus appears to know things that are so far out of the normal that he appears out of his wits, and is accused of having struck a DealWithTheDevil when he tries to explain why the earth is round and revolves around the sun. When he uses his syllogisms to prove that people are animals, it is perceived as true magic, and his mother ''really'' believes her son has turned her into a stone. Because of this, even the officials begin to fear Erasmus, and this, more than anything else, produces the deal with the leutenant.

* WorkingClassPeopleAreMorons: Zig-zagged. Firstly, they clearly are, not understanding the clever Latin Erasmus uses, and completely disdaining the modern heliocentric paradigm. On the other hand, as Jacob states, "If we peasants were to abandon our crops and just look at stars all the time, you learned men soon would experience empty bellies..."

* MagicVersusScience: Closely verging on ClarkesThirdLaw, because Erasmus appears to know things that are so far out of the normal that he appears out of his wits, and is accused of using TheBlackArts when he tries to explain why the earth is round and revolves around the sun. When he uses his syllogisms to prove that people are animals, it is perceived as true magic, and his mother ''really'' believes her son has turned her into a stone. Because of this, even the officials begin to fear Erasmus, and this, more than anything else, produces the deal with the leutenant.

* MagicVersusScience: Closely verging on ClarkesThirdLaw, because Erasmus appears to know things that are so far out of the normal that he appears out of his wits, and is accused of BlackArts when he tries to explain why the earth is round and revolves around the sun. When he uses his syllogisms to prove that people are animals, it is perceived as true magic, and his mother ''really'' believes her son has turned her into a stone. Because of this, even the officials begin to fear Erasmus, and this, more than anything else, produces the deal with the leutenant.

* DrillSeargentNasty: Niels Corporal, giving Erasmus two hours of TrainingFromHell.

* DrillseargentNasty: Niels Corporal, giving Erasmus two hours of TrainingFromHell.

* DrillSargentNasty: Niels Corporal, giving Erasmus two hours of TrainingFromHell.

* DrillSeargentNasty: Niels Corporal, giving Erasmus two hours of TrainingFromHell.

* OnlySaneMan: Jacob again. He is the only one who realize from the beginning how silly Erasmus is acting.

''Erasmus Montanus or Rasmus Berg'' is a comedy from by Danish-Norwegian author Creator/LudvigHolberg, and is one of the most well-known and popular Danish plays (along with ''Jeppe paa Bjerget'', also by Holberg).

''Erasmus Montanus or Rasmus Berg'' is a comedy from by Danish-Norwegian author LudvigHolberg, and is one of the most well-known and popular Danish plays (along with ''Jeppe paa Bjerget'', also by Holberg).

* MoralEventHorizon: Erasmus crosses this when he threatens to strike his father, after he says that he regrets that he let Erasmus go to university.

* UnfortunateImplications: This is the story about how a young intellectual is forced to renounce the truth and conform to the opinions of society. Holberg himself was aware of this, and has Erasmus himself pointing out that he diserves to be punished for threatening to strike his father.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Erasmus' brother Jacob plays up his ''I'm just a stupid peasant''-act, while clearly being a lot more clever than his brother. Whenever they debate, it is Jacob who comes out on top.

--> ''Erasmus coins a persistent meme. [[BeamMeUpScotty Or not.]''