The speaker of the poem, Will, experiences a series of dream-visions on his quest to learn how to live a good Christian life. In his dreams, he meets allegorical characters who represent both his external and internal world: the fundamental teachings and protagonists and antagonists of Christian cosmology; the social classes and economic relationships of medieval England; and his own faculties and physical needs. These allegorical characters fight with each other about God, the Church, money, and how to live. One of the allegorical characters, Piers, a humble plowman, at times becomes both Jesus Christ and Peter, the apostle who founded the Church.
The Prologue and first seven "passus," or steps, make up the Viso, or Vision, portion of the poem, where Will seeks Truth. He dreams of the “fair field of folk” (a geographic allegory for medieval Christendom); the Parliament of Rats fable; the trial of Miss Money; and the confession of the Seven Deadly Sins. In the remainder of the poem, Will seeks Do-well, Do-better, and Do-best. He dreams, among other episodes, of Piers Plowman leading the folk to Truth through plowing a field; Patience’s dinner party with a false friar; the Tree of Charity; Christ’s Harrowing of Hell; and the Antichrist’s destruction of the Church of Unity. In the end, Will has progressed to become an active Christian, while the Church has been compromised by corruption. But it concludes on a hopeful note, as Conscience embarks on a quest to once again find Piers Plowman, who represents uncorrupted Christian values, and good work for the friars.
