The main plot, about the Pennyboy family and Lady Pecunia, is a satire on the emerging ethic of capitalism; and the play features a complex threefold satire on abuses of language, in the News Staple, the society of jeerers, and the project for a Canting College. The play also provides an expression of the females-out-of-control theme that is so central and recurrent in Jonson's plays, from the Ladies Collegiate in Epicene (1609) to the three bad servants in The Magnetic Lady (1632).
The plot centers on the Pennyboy family and Lady Pecunia, satirizing the growing capitalist ethos; and the play presents a tripartite satire targeting linguistic misuses in the News Staple, a clique of mockers, and a project for Canting College. The play also explores the recurring theme of female dominance, characteristic of Jonson's works.