His Excellency The Minister

Jules Arsne Arnaud Claretie was a French literary figure and director of the Thtre Franais. Born at Limges, and studying at the lyce Bonaparte in Paris, he became a journalist, as drama critic to "Le Figaro" and to the "Opinion Nationale," He was a newspaper correspondent during the Franco-German War, and during the Commune acted as staff-officer in the National Guard. In 1885 he became director of the Thtre Franais, and devoted his time chiefly to its administration until his death. He was elected a member of the Acadmie Franaise in 1888.

"His Excellency the Minister" was inspired by a state funeral for a Cabinet Minister who died in office. It led Claritie to consider the experience of a man from the Provinces, raised to the Ministry, and plunged into Paris and the realities of contemporary history. Claritie's Minister "enters into the Cabinet with the determination to reform every abuse, to recast everything; to seek for honest men, to make merit and not faction, the touchstone of advancement," but his idealism doesn't long survive contact with reality.