The motif of infidelity
There is a motif of faithlessness in the story. The mother betrays her daughter's innocence to earn money from forced prostitution. The nephew robs his uncle. The husband manipulates the wife, who cheats on him in return. Ultimately, though, it works out so that the people with integrity do better than those characters who only serve their own interests.
The symbol of prostitution
The idea of prostitution is shown through the character of the Courtesan. Because everyone has slept with the young lady, she no longer represents her own shame, but the shame of her society. This is a satirical way of reversing the shame of prostitution back toward the men who indulge the prostitute, because after all—they all said yes to her. Therefore, her character represents the universal human failure of doing what is most pleasurable instead of what is right.
The symbol of greed
Likewise, the other main character, Follywit, is a representation of what his name suggests, that he is a fool, in the Proverbial sense of the word, namely that he believes his schemes and lies will work, and that he will be able to accomplish evil without recompense. This is foolish because as the other characters in the story could tell at the end, he does get what he deserves. He gets a loveless marriage with a troubled liar who is ashamed by her community and who resents him.
The allegory of the beast and the harlot
The combination of greed and lust are archetypally linked by the Christian scripture of the Revelation. In the Revelation of John, John recounts visions of the apocalypse, and he mentions an image of primordial evil, the beast with the harlot, and in the end of this play, there is a similar marriage. The thief is the beast, because the share a greed for money, and the harlot and the Courtesan both share their prostitution and their lust for power over men. It is not uncommon for European literature of this time to show such thoughtful treatments of Biblical stories.
The allegory of the wretched saint
Likewise, there is an important Arthurian influence in the play, namely in the scene where the succubus attacks the sinner for his infidelity to God (because he helped a woman to break her marriage vows). This also happens to the knights of King Arthur's courts who fail to resist the temptress who becomes a terrifying demon, just like what happened to Brothel. But as Penitent Brothel's name implies, even though he finds himself completely ashamed, he becomes humble and penitent, saving himself from harm.
