Why was hypocrisy a major target of Restoration comedy?

In Restoration comedy, hypocrisy became the primary satiric target due to the inherent tension between human nature and the rigid expectations of social decorum. These plays operated on the premise that while individuals possess primitive, instinctual desires—particularly regarding the "game of love"—society simultaneously demands that they maintain a facade of respectability and restraint.1

The satiric focus arose from the dramatists' awareness of this incongruity: characters were constantly forced to employ "artful dodges" to satisfy their natural impulses while remaining within the bounds of social propriety. Because the era’s ethos accepted both the reality of man’s animal nature and the necessity of keeping up appearances, hypocrisy was viewed as an inevitable consequence of navigating fashionable society.1

Consequently, Restoration dramatists delighted in the paradox of this situation, often reserving their highest dramatic approval for those who could play the game of life with style, grace, and wit, while successfully managing their indiscretions with enough discretion to satisfy social expectations.1