Name Chaucer's 3 favorite pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales and explain why they are his favorites.

The General Prologue, where Chaucer introduces the pilgrims, is the best place to determine Chaucer's opinion of most of the pilgrims.  There is no doubt Chaucer likes the Knight, the Oxford Cleric, and the Parson.  There are others he admires in some ways, but he is completely favorable in his descriptions of these three.  He likes the Knight because the Knight's character represents all a Knight is supposed to represent: "truth, honor, generousness and courtesy".  The Oxford Cleric is another of Chaucer's preferred pilgrims.  The Cleric is liked because he is what a student should be: he is serious about his studies, he is not worldly, he didn't babble needlessly.  He was thin (not gluttonuos), he was moral, and he loved learning and teaching. The Parson is one of the very few clergy members that Chaucer liked.  Most of the clergy is described with much sarcasm and disdain, but the Parson, because he is honest, pious, and unworldly is described in a positive way.  Chaucer says the Parson preaches the gospel and shuns worldly possessions, giving what he has to the poor.  He says the Parson is a true example of what a member of the clergy should be.  The Parson leads the type of life that he preaches to his parishoners that they should lead.  He is not a hypocrite as are most of the other clergy in the tales.  In general, Chaucer favors people who are honest and not hypocritical.