Mr. Aardvark

I have some questions about the Song of Songs. It’s been many years since I read it, but it served as the basis for my first doubts about Christianity:

1. Who are the principal actors? I read 3 chief actors:

a) One is a king (like?) figure, he is the oldest of the three

b) The second is a young woman either married or in some concubine relationship w/ the King. She loves the King but not erotically. She has the hots for the 3rd actor.

c) The 3rd actor is a shepherd—young, and he is the lover of the young woman

2. The standard interpretations of the Song of Songs is that it is an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel (Judaism) or God and the Church (Christianity). But this is a contrivance in order to obviate the clear implications of the text: it celebrates sexual fun, especially unfaithful sexual fun. Is there any reason to read it as an allegory other than the theological implications of reading the fictional-narrative literally?