Jeppe is a drunken peasant married to Nille, who beats him and cheats on him with the village verger. One day, she sends him to town to buy some soap. On the way, Jeppe drinks himself into a stupor at the inn of Jacob le Savetier and falls asleep on a pile of manure. There he is found by baron Nilus and his retinue, who, as a prank, take Jeppe to the castle and make him believe he is the baron...

Holberg's plays are closely linked to the history of the first public theatre in Copenhagen. In 1720, Denmark was recovering from several years of war with Sweden. Against this backdrop, the Lille Gronnegade Theatre opened as the first public theatre in the country, for which Holberg wrote a series of fifteen comedies beginning in 1722. At the time, the country was governed by the libertine King Frederick IV and all new theatre enjoyed quick success among a bourgeoisie hungry for the pleasures of life and seeking to emulate the court and its fabulous parties. While Holberg was inspired by the Latin comedy later developed by Molière, he also breathed new life into a carnivalesque, Dionysian tradition closer to the work of Aristophanes. Jeppe du Mont is a perfect example. Brilliantly expanding on the theme of 'king for a day', Holberg stages a masquerade in which anything is possible.