Depending on how one counts his never-produced La Coupe du Roi de Thule (which he reused extensively during the next decade) or Meduse, this is Massenet's second, third, or fourth opera! It was written in a hurry; after other composers had turned down the libretto, Camille du Locle, the director of the Opera-Comique, offered it to Massenet, who responded to his request for haste by returning a nearly complete and orchestrated score in about a month. Massenet, like many of his contemporaries, was not enthusiastic about the opera-comique genre, perceiving it as trivial and old-fashioned, but he still accepted the commission, and even developed some fondness for it. He was even able to return to it to some extent in 1888, after a fire destroyed the original score the previous year, and it was revived in this new version in various theaters outside of Paris.

Though the music is not yet that of a master composer, the score still has some appealing moments; it suffers most when compared to other operas along the same plot line, such as Offenbach's La Périchole and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, which are more effective satires. However, Don César's mixture of cynicism and idealism are well-expressed, particularly in the prison scene and subsequent marriage scene, with a perfect touch of Gallic comedy, and the pseudo-Spanish songs and dances, while not as infectious or thoroughly flavored as those in Don Quichotte or Le Cid, are effective atmosphere pieces.

His biographers have sometimes over-emphasized its short early run and few revivals; while the 13 performances at its premiere were a disappointment, it is hardly the sign of a complete failure for such a young composer, particularly of a work written so quickly.

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