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One has heard
of characters in a story. And the character of people. But character of Life? Does Life
has a character of its own?
Like the individual and society, Life too has what may be called
a character of its own. Life can be described in terms of the
characteristic ways in which events occur, repeat, reverse, and the
factors that determine the results and consequences of human action.
We often perceive and label the characteristic actions of life with
terms such as chance, luck, fate or destiny. Knowledge of the
character of Life gives us mastery over this chance, luck, fate, destiny,
and LIFE.
Life is governed by subtle laws and principles of action and
reaction that characterize the interaction between the thoughts,
feelings and acts of the individual, society and universal nature.
Great literature is true to life, and it can be studied to reveal
these laws and principles. An in depth study of Pride and Prejudice
reveals these laws
here.
 Take the case of initiative. It is a law of life that initiatives
by those in a higher plane of life (i.e. with greater wealth, status
or power) toward those in a lower plane tend to be readily and
richly fulfilled, provided the lower is a willing recipient and does
not raise obstacles or resistance to receiving. Other initiatives
generate results with lesser or greater difficulty. They meet with
resistance in the measure the initiatives involve an upward movement
or require energy and capacity beyond the endowments of the
individuals involved. So Collins cannot marry Elizabeth, but he
can marry Charlotte. Wickham can elope with Lydia, but not with
Georgiana. Bingley can get Jane, not Georgiana. All of Mrs.Bennet's
initiatives fails, but all it takes Charlotte to get Collins is
three days plus a morning walk.
Initiatives may receive unexpected
support from life when they are aligned with new movements that are
gaining momentum. Initiatives may meet with unexpected resistance
when they are aligned with movements that are passing out of
existence. Lady Catherine’s efforts to marry her daughter Anne
to Darcy meet with resistance and ultimately fail. Lady Catherine
seeks to capitalize on the mutual pledge of her sister and herself
that their children should marry, a practice whose value is passing
out of existence. The social will is seeking to reinvigorate the
aristocracy and that movement takes precedence over Anne’s personal
connections. The light in Eliza’s eyes is enough to overcome the
best-laid plans of the older generation to perpetuate itself in the
old style.
 A study of every character's
initiative, and and why one succeeded and another failed reveals to
us the key to accomplishment. Another interesting study is the act. Each act is
the expression of a force that tends to repeat itself. The greater
the intensity of the force and the more times it repeats, the
greater its capacity for further repetition. The quality and
intensity of the force express in each subsequent repetition of the
act. The very fact that the seeds of four marriages are being sown
at the same time is an act of repetition.
When Mrs. Bennet first asks Mr. Bennet to call on Bingley, Bennet
protests and apparently refuses, but the next day he goes in
deference to her request. When Bingley becomes interested in Jane,
his sisters and Darcy protest, though ultimately they all accept
Jane as his wife. Bennet’s initial protest is mirrored by their own.
The vibration of protest continues and ripples through the story.
His initial reaction is a portent of the reactions that come later.
As each act is a force, it has a tendency to repeat. However,
when the force of the act is insufficient for repetition or meets an
obstacle that prevents it from accomplishing in a particular
direction, the energy of the act may reverse course and express in a
direction opposite to the original act. Mrs. Bennet takes
pleasure in triumphing over Lady Lucas with the prospect of Jane’s
early marriage to Bingley. When Collins proposes to Charlotte, Lady
Lucas called often at Longbourn in triumph to take revenge on Mrs.
Bennet. The sense of triumphing reverses direction. Darcy conceals Jane’s presence in London from Bingley. At Rosings
Fitzwilliam unintentionally reveals to Eliza Darcy’s interference
between Jane and Bingley. The original act of intentional
concealment gets reversed as an act of unintentional disclosure .
 Acts and events that occur at the same time are related at the
level of life, no matter how unconnected they appear on the surface.
The relation sometimes reveals later on as a physical connection
between people or events. Often it represents a psychological
parallel between the thoughts or attitudes of different people that
only reveals to a careful observation. But regardless of
appearances, simultaneous events are always related.
When Wickham visits Longbourn, Caroline’s letter arrives
announcing Bingley’s departure from Herefordshire. When Wickham
turns his interest from Eliza to Miss King, the Gardiners invite
Eliza for a summer tour that takes her to Pemberley and Darcy. Wickham represents a
disruptive vibration that destroys marriages. The moment Eliza
moves closer to him, Bingley and Darcy move away. When Wickham
later moves away in pursuit of Mary King, seeds are planted for
the future meeting of Eliza and Darcy at Pemberley.
The outcome of a chain of events is indicated at the very
beginning, though the meaning of that indication may not be
evident. One clear indication of the outcome of this story is the
chance meeting of Eliza, Darcy, Jane, Bingley, Lydia, Wickham
and Collins in Meryton shortly after Jane’s return from
Netherfield on Collins’ first visit to Longbourn. Darcy and
Bingley are on their way to Longbourn to inquire whether Jane
has fully recovered from her illness. All but Darcy are
meeting Wickham for the first time. Collins is a stranger to
all but his cousins. Yet, at this moment, a future family
comes together. By the end of the story, all seven will be
related to each other through marriage.
Read a detailed study of the
character of life as revealed in Pride and Prejudice
here.
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