# Laroche-Mathieu — Bel Ami character guide

> Laroche-Mathieu in Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Monsieur Laroche - Mathieu, Monsieur Laroche Mathieu, Laroche - Mathieu, Laroche, a Laroche - Mathieu

**First appearance:** 0008-ix

## Snapshot

A rising politician and minister whose fortunes intertwine with the newspaper's colonial schemes, embodying the easy alliance between power, press, and profit in the Third Republic.

## Who they are

Laroche-Mathieu is the kind of politician Maupassant loved to skewer: smooth, well-connected, and entirely at home in the gray zone where public service and private gain become indistinguishable. He moves between the Chamber, the newspaper offices, and the drawing rooms of the wealthy, his career buoyed by the Morocco affair and the men who profit from it. Duroy studies him as a model, and the novel uses him to show how the Republic's great men are made of the same appetites as its journalists.

## Relationships

### [Madeleine Forestier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/madeleine_forestier)

_romantic_

Laroche-Mathieu is a politician who has an affair with Madeleine, using her influence to advance his career while she uses him for power.

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_rivalry_

George and Laroche-Mathieu compete for political influence and Madeleine's favor, leading to mutual betrayal and hostility.

### [Madeleine Forestier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/madeleine_forestier)

_romantic_

Laroche-Mathieu is a politician who has an affair with Madeleine, using her influence to advance his career while she uses him for power.

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_rivalry_

George and Laroche-Mathieu compete for political influence and Madeleine's favor, leading to mutual betrayal and hostility.

### [George Duroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/george_duroy)

_rivalry_

George and Laroche-Mathieu compete for political influence and Madeleine's favor, leading to mutual betrayal and hostility.

### [Madeleine Forestier](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/madeleine_forestier)

_romantic_

Laroche-Mathieu is a politician who has an affair with Madeleine, using her influence to advance his career while she uses him for power.

## In the story

### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/x)

Deputy and future minister who brings news from Morocco to Madeleine.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xii)

Mentioned as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, a key political figure in the chapter's events.

### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xiii)

Mentioned as being involved in the secret plan to take possession of Morocco, and as someone Duroy feels betrayed by.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xv)

The minister who profited from the Morocco conquest, now a dominant figure in the Du Roy household, dining there twice a week and seen with Madeleine at the reception.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/chapters/xvi)

Caught committing adultery with Madeleine, leading to his political downfall.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters/laroche_mathieu
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bel_ami_se/characters