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Gegooled...

Zeitgeist / ethos - in the sense of the play reflecting / capturing the zeitgeist or ethos of a particular period in history;

"Spirit of the time" potentially as well.

"I realised that Poliakoff is adept, not so much at capturing the
zeitgeist as reflecting back a BBC executive’s
somewhat lop-sided view of it."

ref. http://www.consulting-times.com/February2006/5.aspx

PREFACE

My endeavor has been to tell a simple story, preserving as
closely as possible the spirit and feeling of the original. I
have tried, as it were, to take the play to pieces, and build a
novel out of the same material. I have not felt at liberty to
embellish M. Brieux's ideas, and I have used his dialogue word
for word wherever possible. Unless I have mis-read the author,
his sole purpose in writing LES AVARIES was to place a number of
most important facts before the minds of the public, and to drive
them home by means of intense emotion. If I have been able to
assist him, this bit of literary carpentering will be worth
while. I have to thank M. Brieux for his kind permission to make
the attempt, and for the cordial spirit which he has manifested.

Upton Sinclair
http://www.fullbooks.com/Damaged-Goods1.html

In other words, what we need is more general enlightenment, greater frankness and, above all, different social and economic conditions. The revolutionary significance of Damaged Goods consists in the lesson that not syphilis but the causes that lead to it are the terrible curse of society. Those who rant against syphilis and clamor for more laws, for marriage certificates, for registration and segregation, do not touch even the surface of the evil. Brieux is among the very few modern dramatists who go to the bottom of this question by insisting on a complete social and economic change, which alone can free us from the scourge of syphilis and other social plagues. http://www.theatredatabase.com/19th_century/eugene_brieux_00...

Moral drama is also not 100% wrong but imno, is a more narrow concept that Zeitgeist or ethos.