Jeppe on the Hill

Jeppe on the Hill
Two men wearing ragged clothing stand next to each other. Both are looking at the drink that one is pouring.
Henrik Malberg (right) as Jeppe and Valdemar Møller as Jacob Shoemaker in a 1918 production at the Royal Danish Theatre.
AuthorLudvig Holberg
Original titleJeppe på Bjerget
LanguageDanish
GenreComedy
Set in17th century Denmark
Published1722 (1722)
Publication placeDenmark-Norway

Jeppe on the Hill; Or, The Transformed Peasant (Danish: Jeppe på bjerget) is a Danish comedy by the Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg, written during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. The play premiered at the Lille Grønnegade Theatre in 1722, and was first published in print in 1723. The play has a special status in Danish theater, and playing the lead role, Jeppe, is seen as a great distinction. Because this, it was entered into the Danish Culture Canon in 2006.[1] Despite its fame in Denmark, it is not well known in the English-speaking world.[2]

In the play, Jeppe is a drunkard peasant who is abused by his wife, Nille. The Baron and his court find him in a drunken stupor and decide to play a joke on Jeppe.[3] A well-known quotation from the work is from Jeppe's soliloquy early in the play, where he says, "Everybody says that Jeppe drinks, but nobody asks why Jeppe drinks", rationalizing his alcohol abuse as a sensible reaction to his miserable life.

  1. ^ Nyhuus, Lone (2006). "Jeppe on the Hill". Danish Culture Canon. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  2. ^ "Theatre / Best of Danish: Robert Hanks on Jeppe of the Hill at the Gate". The Independent. 1994-04-27. Archived from the original on 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
  3. ^ Holberg, Ludvig; Johnson, Morris (2013-02-05). Jeppe on the Hill; Or, The Transformed Peasant: A Comedy in Five Acts. Translated by Ruud, Martin B. (Martin Bronn); Westergaard, Waldemar.