Satiromastix

[2][3] The title page of the quarto attributes authorship to Dekker, and states that the play was performed by both the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the Children of Paul's.

As George Kirkpatrick Hunter argues, "In Satiromastix, Horace (Jonson) is represented as a social hanger-on and toady, desperate to establish himself as an independent moralist but fearful of being held responsible for his judgments.

We know his writing is corrupt, not because it is bad writing but because he himself is dishonest; his verse is concocted to exploit social possibilities, though he represents it as an essential part of a well-regulated state..."[4]Individual commentators have also tried to link other characters in the play with historical and literary figures of the era, though no consensus has been reached on any further identifications.

It is thought that the play's satirical content was likely grafted onto a work already written, either in whole or in part; critics have noted that the tragic main plot and comic subplot of Satiromastix have little to do with the Poetomachia.

It has been conjectured that John Marston may have made some contribution to Satiromastix, since he was Jonson's prime antagonist in the matter; but here again no firm consensus has been achieved.