Henry Fielding's Pasquin was staged in 1736 and became a notable theatrical satire. It attacked political corruption, theatrical conventions and public gullibility through a play-within-a-play structure. Its success also helped provoke official concern about stage criticism.

Pasquin shows drama using meta-theatre to expose how audiences are manipulated by politics and entertainment. It belongs to the satirical culture that later culminated in the Licensing Act of 1737, narrowing the space for dramatic dissent.