About the work
Comedy by Ludvig Holberg, first published in 1723 in the first collected volume of his comedies but not staged until 1725, when it premiered at the Komediehus at Lille Grønnegade in Copenhagen. Modelled on Plautus's "Miles gloriosus", the play was translated into German in 1741 by Johann Christoph Gottsched under the title "Bramarbas oder der großsprecherische Offizier" and adapted for the German stage.
Plot
The poor but honest Leonard loves Lucilia but must contend with two blustering rivals: the boastful officer Jacob von Tyboe and a self-important scholar. The resourceful servant Jesper Oldfux secretly takes Leonard's side and eggs the two rivals on against each other until their quarrel escalates and finally turns against themselves. In the end Leonard is left as the only sensible suitor and wins Lucilia.
Cultural significance
With its title character, Holberg created one of Scandinavian stage literature's best-known braggart types; via Gottsched's translation, the name "Bramarbas" passed into German as a word for a loudmouth and survives today in the verb "bramarbasieren".