[1] The play centers on its eponymous protagonist who returns to his rural village after studying in Copenhagen to find his new worldview causes conflicts in his everyday life.

The script was written in 1722 and 1723, but was not published until 1731 in the 5th volume of Den Danske Skue-Plads, a collection of plays by Holberg.

The play criticises the academic profession that Holberg himself was a part of and the educational pedagogy he experienced at the University of Copenhagen as a Professor of Metaphysics.

[2] Other scholars speculate that the play's performance was delayed simply because no company cared to put the production on.

His persistent arguing gets him into trouble with the parents of his fiancée Lisbet, who refuse to allow their daughter to marry someone who believes the Earth is round.

The townspeople, exhausted by Erasmus' antics, plot to get him to leave the city by tricking him into enlisting for military service.

Tears come to my eyes when I think that a poor peasant's son has got so much book-learning, especially as we aren't tenants of the university.

Oh, if only my wife and I could have the joy of hearing him preach on the hill, before we die, we shouldn't grudge all the money we have spent on him!

The good man preaches fine sermons here in the village and can talk about envy so that the tears come to my eyes; but it seems to me that he isn't entirely free from that fault himself.