Though clearly a parody of the emerging middle class, "The Knight of the Burning Pestle" is far from a condemnation of it. Through both their actions and their attitude, Beaumont frames the Citizen and his wife as ultimately sympathetic characters, creating a vision of the future middle-class dominated culture as a positive one, albeit with many foibles.
Throughout the work, the Citizens constantly interrupt the action, make themselves the center of attention, and inflict the most hackneyed, derivative plots on the players. And yet, never with malicious intent. Though undoubtedly annoying, the Citizen and his Wife have no intention of harming the play, rather they want to improve it. In fact, in commandeering the players they act out every audience member's fantasy: they get the play they want (and, let's be honest, the existing plot was rather derivative to begin with). In "Burning Pestle" it is made clear that the middle class is in charge, but for such a supposed "anti-bourgeois" work they seem to bring an awful lot of positivity to the proceedings.
The best example of the positive nature of the Citizens' meddling comes in Act III. Rafe, unable to pay a bill, is threatened with arrest. The Citizen leaps into action, leaving his seat, implicating himself directly into the scene, and paying Rafe's bill, stating to the Host: "Have you anything to say to Rafe now? Cap Rafe?" To which his Wife adds: "I would you know it, Rafe has friends that will not suffer him to be capped for ten times so much, and ten times to the end of that" (III, 178-183). The message is clear: The middle class looks out for their friends and underlings. Sure the middle class is bumbling and self obsessed, Beaumont seems to be saying, but they're nothing to be worried about.