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Feminist Critique
Critics such as Ann Christensen argue that early modern writers of city comedies, in the age of emerging capitalism, often portray tradesmen's wives as "crafty, skilled and profit-minded," embodying the negative aspects of capitalism. In The Shoemaker's Holiday, Mistress Eyre appears greedy and has an antagonistic relationship with the shop workers; Simon Eyre, the husband appears "magnanimous and companionable" by contrast. Christensen posits that Mistress Eyre is criticized for possessing the worrisome qualities of capitalism in this period: "ambition, greed, affectation, acquisitiveness". These were negative qualities necessary "for the transition to capitalism," yet downplayed in the character of Simon Eyre.

Nationalist Critique
Christopher L. Morrow examines the approach towards nationalism in The Shoemaker's Holiday, particularly how it responds to the nationalism presented in Shakespeare's play Henry V at the time. Morrow argues that The Shoemaker's Holiday "rejects Henry V’s monarchic nationalism and replaces it with a corporate nationalism that is more open, tolerant, and fair than Henry’s version." The Shoemaker's guild in the play and their communal behavior in part expresses the "corporate nationalism" Morrow mentions, who claims that Dekker "links this corporation to nation in subtle ways." For example, when Firk is offered a bribe in return for information on Lacy or Hans, he says " Shall I cry treason to my corporation? No." Morrow claims that the use of the word "treason", a term generally applied to the betrayal of a monarch or nation, yet in this case is applied to a community of shoemakers. As such, Firk suggests that "corporation...stands in for nation."