The General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales satirizes almost every character that Chaucer introduced. Each person fits into one of four character descriptions; three of which are satires. But what are these descriptions and what characters fit into which?
             One of the character descriptions is the Perfect character. These were people that excelled at what they did with little faults. They had an established reputation and were looked up to by others. The Knight is one such example. He is the epitome of Christian chivalry and a perfect nobleman, but still remains a humble person. In a period of relatively fixed social classes, he could wear plain clothing and associate with whomever he wants and would still remain noble. There was no satire whatsoever in his description as well with the Squire and the Yeoman whom he traveled with. These were Ideal characters.
             People that were much like the Knight and the Squire, but had minor faults were portrayed with a gentle satire. A good example of this was the prioress who was very polite and kind, but didn't do her job as she should have. She shows much compassion for living things and especially animals. Setting her eyes upon a dead mouse she begins to shriek; a gross over-reaction to a small tragedy. Also, the money that she possesses is supposed to go to help the poor, but she uses it instead to feed her dogs quality meats. The nun is a good person with a large heart, but loses sight of what she should be doing and therefore, fails to be perfect.
             Chaucer's other satirical use (the third was comical) is much more of a serious satire than with the previous pilgrims. Generally, these were religious people with power (over souls) and a few of them abused it. Instead of using their wealth and status to help the poor, they used it to enrich their own lives and gain respect from the rich. Hubert, the Friar (one of the few individuals names that Chaucer revealed) was a crooked man,
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