"Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as common hatred for something." These are the famous words of Russian author Anton Chekhov. Chekhov was a very pertinent writer during the Victorian era. Born in 1860, he began writing at a critical time for authors of his genre: those who focused on the more practical details of real human life through writing, people who expressed their realistic view of the world as they knew it without holding back. During this time, realism was a style of writing that did not appear often: it was essentially taboo to write in this way. (Landow) Everything about this writing style was completely new. Writers like Chekhov, and even Tolstoy, helped develop realism in what readers. Like his fellow writer, Chekhov, he possessed realistic characteristics which he portrayed in his literary works. Tolstoy is known as the author who created one of the longest novels ever written, War and Peace. In this book, Tolstoy focuses on describing Russia after the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte and his French soldiers. War and Peace shows how this event affected Russian society. Touching a more sensitive, yet incredibly practical side, Tolstoy provides insight into what romanticism was like. In this long novel, Tolstoy explains: “The higher a man is on the social ladder, the greater the number of people with whom he is connected, the greater his power over others, the more evident is predestination and 'inevitability of his every action." (“War”) This is basically Tolstoy's way of saying that with a higher level of status, a person is more likely to be an authoritarian person and a person who has the ability to persuade /influence others with great ease. This is something that has been true throughout history. If a person is ranked higher in terms of hierarchy, they are more likely to have a strong influence on other people than an individual without one. comparable position. (Mage