Religion is seen in both Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenin and Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary; it is not a major theme, nevertheless, both authors skilfully provide their input.

In Flaubert's Madame Bovary, religion is intertwined amongst three main characters; Emma Bovary, Monsieur Homais and Abbé Bournisien. The majority of Emma's life is filled with sin; she commits adultery, is indulgent, dishonest, and commits suicide. Her life is almost a complete mockery of religion. She starts off as a devout Christian who is easily captured by the stories in novels and soon longs for those same adventures. Mistaking Charles for those romantic escapades adultery soon follows; she finds ecstasy in the arms of Rodolpho, then later in Leon.

However, she is not the only way in which Flaubert mocks the church. The town priest in Yonville, Abbé Bournisien, focuses more on worldly matters...