How did Ben Jonson use comedy to criticize the manners of London society?

Ben Jonson utilized comedy as a didactic tool to critique the manners and morals of London society, viewing the stage as a "glass of custom" intended to reflect reality so that society might recognize and improve its follies.1

His primary method involved the comedy of humours, a genre where characters are defined by a single, unbalanced quality or "humour"—a metaphor derived from Renaissance medical theory. By presenting these characters as caricatures, Jonson anatomized the "time's deformities," exposing the egotism, affectations, and social habits of the London scene. He distinguished between "true" humours, which possessed a person's body and soul, and "adopted" humours, which were mere mannerisms or affectations of fashion and speech.23

In plays such as Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, Jonson depicted a society driven by greed and the desire to get ahead. By indulging his rogues and fools, he forced audiences to confront their own shortcomings, ultimately leaving them to draw their own moral conclusions from the spectacle of human vice.31