Satire in the General Prologue

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 …

…against what a monk is supposed to be. While Chaucer the pilgrim admires the monk for everything he does, Chaucer the poet sees them as flaws. Chaucer the pilgrim is fairly gullible and represents much of the common man in that period, making Chaucer the poet seem all the more insightful. It is the difference between the perceptions and opinions of these two Chaucers that creates much of the ironic tone in The Canterbury Tales.