In May 1938, Renoir completed the historical drama "La Marseillaise" and wanted to make a comedy. He was anxious about the Munich agreement and the strong possibility of another world war, and wanted to film a "happy dream" to subdue his pessimism. He wrote a synopsis for a film titled "Les Millions d'Arlequin", which had characters similar to those in "The Rules of the Game". When conceiving the film, Renoir was inspired by classical French art, such as the works of Pierre de Marivaux, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais and especially Alfred de Musset's "Les Caprices de Marianne". Renoir initially intended to adapt the classic French play "Les Caprices de Marianne"; NEF first announced the film as an adaptation of it. Renoir later said he never intended to directly adapt "Les Caprices de Marianne" but only to re-read it and other classics of French literature for inspiration.