The prologue of the Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece of satire due to the frequent use of verbal irony and insults towards the characters and their roles in society. A major source of irony is Chaucer's depiction of the Church. To represent the Church he uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar, who should be holy and virtuous people. In his writings he suggests that they are actually corrupt, breaking their vows, and in no way modeling the “holiness” of Christianity. In the Middle Ages, friars, monks and priors had very specific roles in society. The friar had to follow the mendicant order by living on charity, preaching, educating, assisting the sick and absolving sins. The Prioress was the head of a group of nuns. He would have had a low social position since he belongs to the Theocracy. His roles included growing vegetables and grains, producing wine and honey, providing medical care to the community, and being responsible for the Priories. Finally, the Monk's role was to remain in his cloister and study religious texts; “And that a monk outside the cloister is a mere / Fish out of water, flapping his wings on the dock...” (177-178). All these people were supposed to be a model of holiness; they were connected to the community and had no personal property. They should be selfless Christians dedicated to the Church. Because of their roles in society, the friar, the monk, and the prioress all take vows to which none of them remain faithful. The friar has a charming personality, which he uses to his advantage to exploit the poor and obtain charity from the rich. “Natural gifts like his were difficult to match. / He was the best beggar of his group, / And, for his begging district, he paid rent..." (249-251), and seduced women, the...... middle of paper... ...r's opinion on how all clergymen should live and behave.And because he was not willing to conform to corruption like others, he and the true teachings of Christianity remained on the fringes of the medieval church Chaucer uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar to represent his views on the Church. It appears that the three model members of the Church have no problem with self-indulgence, greed and unfaithfulness to their vows its teachings and the people of the church, who use it for personal gain. Chaucer sees the church as corrupt, hypocritical and greedy. Works cited Keach, Williams, John Richetti, Bruce Robbins and Carroll Moulton 'America: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1996.Print.