Interestingly, although Raskolnikov's punishment comes before the end of the novel, only after he is banished to Siberia is he able to truly let God into his heart. This shows how earthly punishment and salvation are not always linked. The novel ends with him throwing himself upon Sofia's mercy, as she finally understands that he has accepted God into his heart and been redeemed. Although no figure is Christ-like in the novel, Sofia acts like a figure of wisdom and a facilitator of Raskolnikov's faith. She inspires him to reject secular philosophy for God, as philosophy and his intellect cannot save him, only religion. Although Sofia has no education, she is depicted as wiser than most of the learned men in the novel. Sofia hears Raskolnikov's first confession of his crime, before the authorities. Unlike the anonymous authors of Beowulf, for Dostoevsky true heroism is sacrifice and repentance, not manifesting great and heroic deeds.

The Canterbury Tales, in contrast, shows a far less reverential attitude towards religion...

Because Chaucer uses a series of tales, told through the voices of a variety of pilgrims, it is difficult to determine Chaucer's personal religious point-of-view. Clearly, he hates hypocrisy, as is clear by his insertion of pious tales into the mouths of some of the most corrupt religious figures of the Church, such as the Pardoner. He also portrays an overweight monk who clearly has not taken the vow of asceticism and poverty very seriously. Of course, as its title suggests, the entire series of tales is set during a pilgrimage. The irreverent attitude of the travelers, who pay lip service to religion but also enjoy the experience of traveling and telling tales, is perhaps a better indication of how 'real' individuals viewed their faith -- it was central to their lives but they were also aware of the corruption of the clergy, the fact that many people married multiple times like the Wife of Bath, and the financial aspects of selling indulgences that contradicted the 'unworldly' image of the church.