Arnold Bennett Biography
English Novelist and Playwright, Best Known for The Old Wives' Tale
Oct 26, 2009
Arnold Bennett is best known for his early novels depicting realism, true-to-life stories of the provincial life. He was one of England's leading exponents of realism. Some of his novels include The Old Wives' Tale, The Man from the North, and Anna of the Five Towns.
Early Life of Arnold Bennett
Arnold Bennett was born on May 27, 1867 in Five Towns, Staffordshire, an area famous for pottery. His father was a solicitor and he was the eldest of nine children. He became a lawyer's clerk after attending London University. But his passion was writing, which began to take his desired path when he worked as a journalist. He became editor of the women's magazine, Woman, before he was 30-years-old.
Arnold Bennett's Early Novels
Bennett's first novel, A Man from the North, was published when he was 31. Many of his novels' titles refer to the 'five towns' of the area, which are now part of the modern city of Stoke-on-Trent. The Old Wives' Tale is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century.
When his father died in 1902, Bennett moved to Paris, France, where he was heavily influenced by the work of French novelists Honoré de Balzac and Gustave Flaubert. He also met Emile Zola from 1902 to 1912.
Although he produced his best-known work in Paris, Bennett's roots were firmly inculcated and planted in his native land in industrial England. His novels are full of realism. Anna of the Five Towns, The Old Wives' Tale and Clayhanger, for example, are all set in the "Potteries," an area so named because it was famous for its production of earthen wares.
Bennett's Literary Works
As a leading exponent of realism in England, Bennett's narrative and characters offer a realistic attitude toward life. He wrote more than 30 novels and plays.
During the 1920s, his literary reputation declined, but it was revived with the publication in three volumes of The Journals of Arnold Bennett just after his death, March 27, 1931, at the age of 63.
The following is a famous Bennett quote from The Man from the North: "Down below in Burslem… If it were an old Flemish town, beautiful in detail and antiquely interesting, one would say its situation was ideal. It is not beautiful in detail, but the smoke transforms its ugliness into a beauty transcending the work of architects and of time."
Books by Arnold Bennett
- A Man from the North, 1898
- Anna of the Five Towns, 1902
- The Grand Babylon Hotel, 1902
- The Old Wives' Tale, 1908
- Clayhanger, 1910
- The Card, 1911
- These Twain, 1915
- Riceyman Steps, 1924
- The Journals of Arnold Bennett, 1932-1933, published after he died
Sources:
- McGovern, Una, Editor. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002.
- Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton Books Limited, 1997.
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