John Marston (1575–1634), one of the first Elizabethan satirists, was a playwright who helped pave the way for Jonson's later success. A good definition of a satire is a play where human faults and vices are exposed and made ridiculous. Marston came from a good family and was a gentleman.

In 1605, Eastward Ho! got him a jail sentence for insulting the new king, James I. He wrote one other play in 1606, after which he seems to have retired from the theater. Later in Marston's life, he joined the Anglican Church and took orders. Marston was a great satirist of his time and was in constant competition with Ben Jonson.