The Old Wives' Tale

Infobox Book |
name = The Old Wives's Tale
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author = Arnold Bennett
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country = United Kingdom
language = English
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genre = Novel
publisher = Chapman and Hall
release_date = 1908
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
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isbn = NA
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"The Old Wives' Tale" is a novel by Arnold Bennett, first published in 1908. It deals with the lives of two very different sisters, Constance and Sophia Baines, following their stories from their youth, working in their mother's draper's shop, into old age. It is generally regarded as one of Bennett's finest works. It covers a period of about 70 years from roughly 1840 to 1905, and is set in Burslem and Paris.

Bennett was initially inspired to write the book by a chance encounter in a Parisian restaurant. In the introduction to the book, he saysquotation|...an old woman came into the restaurant todine. She was fat, shapeless, ugly, and grotesque. She had aridiculous voice, and ridiculous gestures. It was easy to see thatshe lived alone, and that in the long lapse of years she haddeveloped the kind of peculiarity which induces guffaws among thethoughtless.

and

quotation|I reflected, concerning the grotesque diner: "This woman was onceyoung, slim, perhaps beautiful; certainly free from theseridiculous mannerisms. Very probably she is unconscious of hersingularities. Her case is a tragedy. One ought to be able to makea heartrending novel out of the history of a woman such as she."Every stout, ageing woman is not grotesque--far from it!--butthere is an extreme pathos in the mere fact that every stoutageing woman was once a young girl with the unique charm of youthin her form and movements and in her mind. And the fact that thechange from the young girl to the stout ageing woman is made up ofan infinite number of infinitesimal changes, each unperceived byher, only intensifies the pathos.

Bennett also found inspiration in Maupassant´s novel "Une Vie". [http://littleprofessor.typepad.com/the_little_professor/2006/11/the_old_wives_t.html]

Plot details

The book is broken up into four parts. The first section, "Mrs Baines" details the adolescence of both Sophia and Constance, and their life in their father's shop and house (a combined property) [http://www.thepotteries.org/listed/19ab.html] . The father is ill and bedridden, and the main adult in their life is Mrs Baines, their mother.

By the end of the first book, Sophia (whose name reflects her sophistication, as opposed to the constant Constance) has eloped with a travelling salesman. Constance meanwhile marries Mr Povey, who works in the shop.

The second part, "Constance", details the life of Constance from that point forward up until the time she is reunited with her sister in old age. Her life, although outwardly prosaic, is nevertheless filled with personal incident, including the death of her husband, Mr Povey, and her concerns about the character and behaviour of her son.

The third part, "Sophia", carries forward the story of what happened to Sophia after her elopement. Abandoned by her husband in Paris, Sophia eventually becomes the owner of a successful pension.

The final part, "What Life Is", details how the two sisters are eventually reunited. Sophia returns to England and the house of her childhood, where Constance still lives.

Trivia

A facsimile edition of the manuscript has been published, which is a testament to Bennett's calligraphic skills. The original manuscript is in the Lilly Library, Indiana.

External links

*gutenberg|no=5247|name=The Old Wives' Tale