Arnold Bennett: a study in realism

Abstract

Although there has been virtually no disagreement among critics that Arnold Bennett was a realist, no substantial work has been done with regard to what kind of realist he was. The purpose of the present thesis therefore is to evaluate the particular nature of Bennett's realism. It will be assumed that Bennett's fiction is anchored not merely to a general tradition of realism, but to the French type of realism in particular. Throughout his career, Bennett made incessant efforts to remind the British public of the merits of the French realists, indeed, of French literature in general, and vigorously endeavoured to emulate his French forerunners in his own writing of fiction. This French commitment has a wider significance. At the present time, when English has become a kind of world language, and English literature is exerting an overwhelming influence on a world-wide scale, there has been a tendency to ignore the homogeneity of the literature of Western Europe, and to neglect the mutual influences of the various nation-states' literatures on one another. In such circumstances, it is of importance to draw attention to Bennett the English novelist's 'centrifugal' inclination.

Western literature has its roots in ancient Greek and Roman cultures, and was greatly enriched during the predominance of Christianity. As the Greek, Roman, and Christian constituents of Western culture all originated in an area inhabited by peoples who speak 'Latin' languages, the cultures and literatures of those peoples have often been referred to as 'Latin'. Whatever meaning it may have, the term 'Latin' connotes the origins of Western culture. The literature of almost every nation-state of the present Europe has in a sense been generated by this profound source of inspiration, the literature of France even more than that of England. Starting from the Middle Ages, and stretching into the present century, the link between English culture and 'Latin' has to a great extent been realized through the French. Bennett was one of those English writers who made life-long conscious efforts to transfuse French elements into English fiction. This fact is of importance for a study not only of realism, but also of modernism, which originated largely in France.

It is for the above reasons that Chapter 1 is an exclusive account of the debate on realism in nineteenth-century France. In this chapter, various aspects of French realism and naturalism are described. Chapter 2 concentrates upon the French influences on Bennett. Chapter 3 demonstrates how the French realist and naturalist doctrine of hereditary and environmental determination is radically modified by Bennett. Using stylistic theories, Chapter 4 analyzes in detail the ways in which the French realists' doctrine of authorial impersonality manifests itself in Bennett's work. Chapter 5 deals with Bennett's application of the French realists' theory of artistic beauty to his own literary practice. The next chapter is devoted to the most important aspect of realism - the mimetic nature of art. Although this chapter is based upon the assumption that Bennett belongs fundamentally to the convention of realism, it also shows that he has his own specific methods. Chapter 7 examines the ways Bennett reconciles his artistic ideal, cultivated by his love of French realism, with the irresponsive British public, the result being a general moderation of his own realism. The last chapter is an account of Bennett's effort at moving away from the realist convention by using symbols.

Bennett's total fictional output can be divided neatly into two groups - one that deals with his native district the Potteries and the other which is set in London. It is assumed that his Five Towns fiction is superior to his London fiction because the first category belongs to a period when Bennett was more of an artistic idealist than after 1918 when the Potteries virtually disappeared from his novels. It is for this reason that the thesis concentrates substantially on Bennett's Five Towns fiction. It should also be understood that the thesis will have little to do with Bennett's 'pot-boilers'. It focuses largely on The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Anna of the Five Towns (1902), the Clayhanger trilogy (1910-6), and Riceyman Steps (1923).