“Pilgrimages might be said to be as much about the journey as the destination.” (Higl) Pilgrimages are very important for religions around the world. They are important for people working on a deeper faith and these pilgrimages are directed to places of great importance. It is important to note that people do not only learn when they are at their destinations, but also during the journey to those destinations. “The Canterbury Tales,” Chaucer's unfinished work, was a group of stories about a group on a pilgrimage, but the stories did not take place at the destination. These were stories told on the road to Canterbury. They were also very satirical stories. They showed great hypocrisy and immorality. The stories seemed to have a purpose and be aimed at a specific audience. This audience would most likely take Chaucer's work as a joke at first, but then quickly notice how the words sharply affected the way people lived during that time. Using Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," you can analyze his use of satire to reach specific audiences, three of which include the church, the common man, and those who are married or intending to become married. “The Pardoner's Prologue” is an introduction given by the Pardoner to his fellow pilgrims, and his prologue is one of the greatest moments of satire used by Chaucer in all of the “Canterbury Tales”. The Forgiver is a man who preaches to groups and forgives them of their sins after tithing. He tells the group how he will satisfy the greed of others to get the largest tithe, then use that money for himself. “The Pardoner is someone who emphasizes the seemingly hypocritical excesses of his own character.” (Boenig) He is the one who shows his hypocrisy, no other character is... middle of paper... used to reach the common man. The satire used on common members of the group such as the cook would lead members of the middle class to read his story. They wanted characters they could relate to, and Chaucer gave them those characters, even if they were being made fun of. Finally, Chaucer targeted the entire marriage in “The Prologue of the Wife of Bath.” The wife had five husbands and used many of them for their money. The wife was, and is, exactly what all men fear when approaching marriage. Chaucer's satire elicits great reactions from his readers, but what if he didn't intend it to be satirical? “If the reader is to take Chaucer at his word, he seems to suggest that his works have been misinterpreted.” (Helterman) Did he really want to elicit satirical reactions from others, or did he simply want people to see these as entertainment stories??