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What does Ben Jonson mean by calling comedy an imitation of life and an image of truth?

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comedy Poster for the Federal Theatre Project presentation of *The Path of Flowers*, a farce-comedy play written by Valentin Kataev (or Katayev) at the Experimental Theatre in New York City, between 1936-41.

In his play Every Man Out of His Humour (1599), Ben Jonson defined comedy as "an imitation of life, a glass of custom, an image of truth."1

By this, Jonson meant that the purpose of comedy is didactic and satiric: it serves to "hold the mirror up to nature" by reflecting human behavior and contemporary manners exactly as they are. By presenting a realistic, albeit often caricatured, depiction of society’s follies, vices, and "humours," the playwright intends for the audience to recognize their own shortcomings and the absurdity of their ways.1

Ultimately, Jonson viewed comedy as a tool for social improvement. By exposing the gap between man’s true nature and his artificial social behaviors, the work encourages society to confront its own folly and strive for correction and order.12