To start with, the definition of an allegory is that it is a type of

writing that has a double meaning. On one level, it is a romance or

adventure etc (e.g., Spenser's Faerie Queene) while on another
level, it is a description of a moral, spiritual or political reality
common to all people either actually or potentially
. In brief, Cuddon explains, using this example: An Arabian folk
fable involves a scorpion, a frog and a river and the scorpion's
remark, "We're both Arabs, aren't we?" Cuddon explains that if the
scorpion is renamed Mr. Treachery and the frog becomes Mr.
Prudence and the remark is changed to "We're both men [or "of
mankind"], aren't we?" the fable is changed to an allegory. The
lesson of the adventure story is now symbolically applicable
universally to all people. While it is not specifically stated in the
definition of allegory that the characters have titles as names,
e.g., Mr. Prudence, The Red Crosse Knight, Christian, etc, it is a
common characteristic of allegory that they often do substitute
names like Alice and Elijah and Chicago for titles used as names,
like Miss Charm, Mr. Miracle and Emerald City.

Having said this, the genre that Ben Jonson's The Alchemist is
analyzed under is that of farce. Critics consider that his characters,
which are similar to the types in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,
are farcical rather than allegorical. Jonson is using farce, with a
whole catalog of "typical" characters, to mock the social element
of swindlers and victims, a prevalent aspect of Jacobean society.
"Typical" characters are those drawn from established literary
types as opposed to fully realized individual characters. In farce
(as in fable and allegory) this technique works rather well because
audience members are familiar with these established literary
types and can therefore all the more easily understand and
appreciate the farce set before them, indeed, they may have on
occasion been one of those types (e.g., victim or swindler)
themselves.

In considering The Alchemist, it is important to note that as a critic

and analyst, the reader may choose to read The Alchemist as an
allegory if allegorical representations strike your perception of the
story. Furthermore, a work of prose or poetry may be in whole an
allegory or in part an allegory or have isolated passages or lines
that are allegorical. Dr. Wheeler elaborates on this point more
fully. When a reader gives an analysis or critical opinion of a work
not typically considered allegory (e.g., The Alchemist) as being
allegorical in whole, in part or even in one sentence, this sort of
allegorical reading is called allegoresis. So in summary, The
Alchemist is in the farce genre having characters who are well
established literary types, not an allegory with allegorical
characters, but an individual reading of allegoresis may find a
unified allegory or partial allegorical sections or lines

The Alchemist is one of Ben Jonson's more popular comedies. Cony-catching or swindling (a cony was another
word for dupe, gull, or victim) was as popular in the seventeenth century as it is in the twentieth. The con or
swindle was a familiar theme and one which Jonson found to be a natural topic for comedy. There is little
known about audience reaction to any of Jonson's plays.

But Jonson was not as popular with theatre-goers as William Shakespeare. In general, Jonson's plays were not
well received by audiences, but The Alchemist appears to have been more popular than most, probably because
of its topic.