The poem—part theological allegory, part social satire—concerns the narrator's intense quest for the true Christian life, from the perspective of medievalCatholicism. This quest entails a series of dream-visions and an examination into the lives of three allegorical characters, Dowel ("Do-Well"), Dobet ("Do-Better"), and Dobest ("Do-Best"). The following summary is based on the B-version of the poem--the most widely edited and translated.