阿诺德 本涅特 A. Bennet(t)(1867-1931）英国作家。出生在斯塔福德郡的小镇汉利附近。父亲是律师。童年时生活穷苦，促使他追求事业的成功，以摆脱贫穷和屈辱。他曾在伦敦学习法律，当过律师事务所的书记员和《妇女》杂志的编辑，写过小说、剧本、评论等。以后专门从事写作。他的第一部小说《北方来的人》(1898)带有自传性质，描写一个青年希望成为作家，从北部工业小镇来到伦敦，结果一无所成，反映了外省知识分子经历的辛酸。

1902至1913年，本涅特侨居巴黎，开始发表一系列以家乡盛产陶瓷制品的五座工业城镇里中产阶级的日常生活为题材的小说，这使他在20世纪初期英国现实主义文学中与享有盛誉的约翰·高尔斯华绥、赫伯特·威尔斯等人齐名。“五镇”小说的第一部是《五镇的安娜》(1902)，表现富有同情心和责任感的姑娘安娜和她冷酷贪婪的父亲两种对立的道德观，对唯利是图的工商业者有一定的揭露和嘲讽。

小说《老妇人的故事》（1908）是本涅特的代表作，它描写伯斯里镇布店老板贝恩斯的两个女儿从朝气蓬勃的姑娘变成平庸的老妪，反映了19世纪后半叶英国工业城镇里中产阶级的生活。姐姐康斯坦丝嫁给布店的伙计，守着父亲留下的小家业平淡地过了一生。妹妹索非亚不愿在沉闷的小镇中生活，和一个推销员私奔到巴黎，遭到遗弃，以收取房租维持生活，后来老死在家乡。小说的主题是青春和美丽不可避免地要变成衰老和丑陋。两姐妹生活中的悲剧正是平庸空虚的小市民社会环境所造成的。有的评论家认为这部作品反映了英国中产阶级的力量和弱点。

本涅特的《克莱汉格》三部曲，包括《克莱汉格》(1910)、《希尔达·莱斯韦斯》（1911）、《老两口》(1915)，描写“五镇”印刷厂老板埃德温·克莱汉格的一生。埃德温青年时期爱好建筑学，但迫于父命，放弃个人爱好，接替父亲经营印刷厂。后来事业有了成就，又受到妻子希尔达·莱斯韦斯的干涉和控制。埃德温于苦恼中悟出一条道理：“人间的不平是既成事实”，只好逆来顺受，以求安宁。《老两口》写埃德温夫妇到了老年才相互谅解。这组三部曲不及《老妇人的故事》，但作者对埃德温的同情使他成为小说里最吸引人的人物。

本涅特还塑造了一些资产阶级典型人物，给人留下鲜明的印象。小说《怪人》(1911) 及其续篇《摄政者》(1913)写一个毫无道德观念的“怪人”，他在学生时代就善于花言巧语、投机钻营。一生不择手段，厚颜无耻，逐渐飞黄腾达。小说《赖斯曼阶梯》(1923)是他的重要作品中唯一不以五镇为背景的小说。写了一个极端吝啬的书店老板。作者笔下的这些人物是可恶或可笑的，在他们身上可以看出作者的嘲讽，基至也有欣赏和同情。

本涅特还以“五镇”的生活为题材写了一些短篇小说，收在《五镇的故事》(1905)、《五镇的惨淡的微笑》(1907)、《五镇的斗牛士》(1912)等集子中。他写过不少剧本，但成就不大，其中以《里程碑》(1912)和《伟大的冒险》(1913，根据作者自己的小说《活埋》改编)较为出色。

本涅特受爱弥尔·左拉和奥诺雷·德·巴尔扎克的影响较深，善于描写平凡的生活琐事，在平淡无奇中揭示生活中的诗意。他认为作家不应成为生活的评论者或辩护者，而应观察和记录人生，因此他的人物描写带有自然主义倾向。他对“五镇”生活的描写只限于他所熟悉的中产阶级，对资产阶级的剥削本质揭露得不够。

Novelist, playwright, essayist, critic and journalist. Born in Hanley, Staffordshire, the eldest child of a pawnbroker who had bettered himself and become a solicitor. The family moved house several times and lived in Burslem and Middleport. As a result, Arnold went to several schools including the Middle School, Newcastle-under-Lyme. His father wanted him to follow his Example and qualify as a solicitor but Arnold failed a crucial university entrance examination. He therefore became a solicitor's clerk, at first in his father's office and, from 1889, in 伦敦

Arnold Bennett had shown early promise as a writer and had won a writing competition in a local newspaper as a boy. In London he began to see his writing published in popular magazines and he joined the staff of Woman magazine in 1893, later becoming its editor. His first novel to be published, A man from the north, appeared in 1898 and its success allowed him to give up other work to concentrate on writing. He lived in Bedfordshire and for eight years, from 1903, in Paris. He married Marguerite Soulié, a French actress, in 1907 and they were to stay together for fourteen years before separating. He never returned to live in Staffordshire, even though he continued to draw inspiration from the area in his work. He died on 27 March 1931 from typhoid shortly after a visit to France. Following his cremation, his ashes were buried in the cemetery at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

A prolific, yet uneven, author, the reputation of Arnold Bennett rests on his thirty novels, and especially those set in the Staffordshire scenery of his childhood, the Potteries. He learned his craft by studying French novels that included intense description and he successfully applied this style in bringing to life the ordinary working lives of many of his characters. His best work can be found in the novels Anna of the Five Towns (1902), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), Clayhanger (1910) and Riceyman Steps (1923), all except the last being set in the Potteries. In his earlier career, Arnold Bennett was also a respected playwright, his interest in the theatre following on from his work as a critic. His most successful play was Milestones, written with Edward Knoblock.