 Malevole is an angry satirist-figure, who attacks the corruption and decadence of the court in which he lives.The degree to which the play is a comment on the court of James I and the immorality of his courtiers is debatable, as the satire is, by and large, general enough to fit any court.However, "The Malcontent" seemed to some contemporaries to be, like Marston's later plays, a lashing of the new, bumptious, and corrupt Scottish courtiers, and some specific satire is certain.