Satire as A Tool for Social Critique in English Renaissance Comedy

This article investigates satire as a cultural and artistic tool in English Renaissance comedy, moving beyond the traditional Jonson-focused narrative. Through a comparative analysis of plays by Shakespeare, Middleton, Dekker, Heywood, Beaumont, Lyly, Chapman, Haughton, and Marston, it identifies how dramatists used irony, parody, caricature, inversion, and allegory to critique class mobility, gender roles, economic practices, and national identity. The study employs a qualitative literary analysis, combined with historical and contextual reading, to demonstrate that satire often functioned as controlled subversion, enabling playwrights to address sensitive issues under censorship and within commercial theatre systems. Findings reveal distinct variations across subgenres: citizen comedy employed biting caricature, romantic comedy favored playful irony, while meta-theatrical works engaged in bold parody. By situating satire within the wider theatrical community, the research argues that Renaissance comedy was not mere entertainment but an adaptive form of civic discourse, reflecting and negotiating the social anxieties of early modern London.