Out of the middle-class characters described, the Wife of Bath gets the most favorable description. Chaucer describes her as "good" and "worthy," even if she has a temper. Compared to the other characters, who are corrupt in some way, there is an openness to the Wife which makes her more likable.
Firstly, she is described as skilled in cloth-making, outdoing many of her peers. She does not get her money from exploiting people or from inheritance, as the upper class and clerical pilgrims usually do, but from her own work.
Secondly, she is an experienced woman in the ways of love. She has been married five times. Chaucer does not paint her in a negative light because of this but rather as a wise woman who understands love and sex better than most other people.
Thirdly, she is independent. She travels alone, which would have been strange for a woman to do in the Middle Ages. It was also dangerous for a woman to travel alone, which suggests the Wife is confident and brave. Considering her temper and willingness to argue, she seems more than a match for anyone who would oppose her. Her hat is even described as being as broad as a shield, suggesting warrior-like qualities.
Compared to the other middle-class pilgrims, such as the Miller and the Guildsman, the Wife is more ambitious, honest (at least in regards to her work), and good-natured. While not a perfect person, she seems the most shining example of the middle class in the whole poem.
Very few of the characters Chaucer describes are given a favorable portrait. Most are either corrupt, deceitful, or phony.
The Miller is one of the most vividly described of the middle-class characters, but Chaucer depicts him as rude and tacky. Even if we let his dirty jokes and boisterous personality go as charming in a way, it's difficult to ignore the statement that he cheats his customers and suppliers.
The Guildsmen don't get much more than a short and rather flat description without any explicit criticism. Still, the narrator does suggest that these men were all three driven by their wives' desires to rise in social stature, suggesting that their success did not come from ambition or business skill. While this may not seem extremely critical, in Chaucer's time, a time when English society was firmly patriarchal, being "hen-pecked" would be seen as a weakness.
The Wife of Bath character may be considered here. Chaucer calls her "worthy" twice, and he suggests that she is good at making cloth, has a good sense of humor, and is wise in matters of love, so the narrator seems to like her. If we put her into the middle-class category (the narrative does not place her social status), she clearly stands out among the others. The most obvious difference is that she is a woman, and as a woman, several details set her apart. She is traveling alone, uncommon for women of the time, and she appears to be independent, again uncommon for women of the time. Unlike the Miller, for whom we get mostly personality description, and the Guildsmen, whom the narrator describes mostly in terms of their nice clothing and accessories, the Wife of Bath gets several lines praising her skills.
Another character you may consider is the Host. He is easy to overlook, but he plays an important role in the frame narrative, acting as a leader of the group and setting the standards for the storytelling contest. He is certainly a member of the emerging middle class of the time. The narrator describes him as hospitable and jovial and describes their stay at the Tabbard as pleasant, so he is good at his job. As with the Wife of Bath, Chaucer spends quite a few lines offering praise of his behavior and manner. He also acts as a subtle moral arbiter, criticizing some of the characters' rude behavior, although not always successfully. The Miller, for instance, cuts in and tells his tale out of turn. However, in his role as the leader, as a guide to the group, and as the one who encourages them to tell their tales, he stands out as a positive character.
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