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Class Criticism:
Contemporary critics have approached the idea of class and class disparity in The Shoemaker's Holiday. An academic debate is still being maintained as to whether Dekker's play maintains or dissents against the class structure of Early Modern English society. In the essay "Work, Bodies, and Gender in "The Shoemaker's Holiday"" Arab claims that "[Eyre] adamantly resists the idea that he need transform his artisanal identity in any way in his new roles of sheriff and then Lord Mayor" and goes on to suggest that this is a challenge to the class structure in the society of Early Modern England. Conversely, Arab also suggests in "Work, Bodies, and Gender in "The Shoemaker's Holiday"" that, due to Eyre's method of gaining status and power in the play, the play demonstrates that "the common artisan cannot claim political power without resorting to borrowing privileges that still belong to the aristocracy". Arab suggests that the class based structure of Early Modern England is in fact maintained by the presentation of Eyre's story in the play.