No EXIT

No Exit is a short one act play written in 1944 by 20th century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.. No Exit takes place in the dephs of hell. Our the characters, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle not only have to survive an eternity of hell, but an eternity of each other as well. For Sartre once said "Hell is other People."



Author Biographical Information
MWDS SECTIONS THAT GO HERE: Biographical Information About the Author Jean-Paul Sartre was born in 1905 in Paris, France. He was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. He is more known for his ideas of a philosopher and thinker than as a playwright of novelist. But, he has wrote several plays and novels. The best known ones are NO EXIT, followed by The Roads to Freedom. Others include The Age of Reason, The Flies, The Wall, Dirty Hands, etc. The list goes on and on, but I won't bore you with all of them. Now, Jean-Paul the speaker and intellectual liked to revolve around human freedom. He said the we as human beings are "condemned to be free." His theory states that there is no creator. When a creator creates something, it has a purpose; an essence. But since there is no creators for man, there is no since of purpose; essence. Thus: "existence precedes essence." Resources, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre#Sartre_and_literature

Setting: Historical Information
MWDS SECTIONS THAT GO HERE: Historical Info about the setting Well, the setting is Hell. No, it is really Hell. The play takes place in Hell. Hell is a concept thought up by Christianity. It is a place where you are condemned to for eternity. It is where all the damned go to spened the rest of their "lives". To be more accurate, the play takes place in a room in Hell. It is pretty fancy. It has three couches and has Second Empire French furnishings. This makes since since Sartre is French. The Second Empire occurred during Napoleon the 3rd reign which lasted from 1852 to 1870. The Second Empire was about guiding people internally towards justice and externally towards perpetual peace.

Resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Empire_(France)

Genre
MWDS SECTIONS THAT GO HERE: Characteristics of the genre The genre of No Exit would be a drama and a thriller. it has so much drama that you get sick of it, but you is also on the edge of your seat for what happens next. Three people who don't even know each other are trapped into a room with each other. Yeah, I say drama will happen. But the fact that they are in Hell and have no clue why they are in that room with each other thrills you.

Reference http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/noexit/

Plot Summary
The scene starts out in a room with Second Empire French Furnishing. Then, through the door enters two people. One is Valet, the escort, and the other is a man named Joseph Garcin. He is surprised by the design of the room for he expected worse. The valet explains the room and the call-button, and leaves. Shortly after, the valet returns with Inez, a women who has also been assigned to the room. The valet leaves, and Inez and Garcin start feeling each other out with some questions. The valet enters yet again, this time with Estelle, a pretty woman. She freaks out when she sees Garcin for she thought he was a faceless creature. But, she turns out to be wrong. Estelle wants a mirror so she can look at herself, but there aren't any. Inez offers to be her mirror, and Estelle quickly says no and gets weirded out by Inez. During that mirror segment, we found out that Inez is a lesbian. Estelle is not a lesbian, and would rather try to get with Garcin. Garcin, however, wants to be left alone. They all try to leave each other alone, but are unsuccessful. They start bickering, and then they finally accept that they are in Hell, and their punishment is putting up with each other. They all tell back stories of themselves and how they died. They left out what they did to be sent to Hell, though. They all give in and tell what they did. Garcin was a big time adulterer. Estelle got pregnant with her lover while married, ran off and had the baby. Then, she killed it. Inez was living with her cousin, and slowly turned his wife against him and took her for herself. They all try to cope with the fact that they are in Hell, but can't seem to. They all continue to bicker and are each others true Hell.

Referance http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/noexit/

Characters

 * Joseph Garcin - He is one of the three main charcters that is trapped in the room together. In Hell! He seems like a nice guy. Worked at a newspaper office. Why would he be in Hell? Well, turns out he cheated on his wife. He never really cared for his wife.
 * Inez Serrano - She is one of the three main charcters that is trapped in the room together. In Hell! She is very independent and believes everyone should look out for themselves. Although not directly said, she is a lesbian. She got her cousin's wife to turn on him and come be with her. Thats why she is in Hell.
 * Estelle Rigault - She is one of the three main charcters that is trapped in the room together. In Hell! She is pretty, but a snob. She is in denial about being dead and in Hell for most of the play. She cheated on her husband for a younger man and had a baby with him. She kills the baby and never lets her husband know about the affair. That is why she is in Hell.
 * The Valet - A creature of Hell that escorts the people to their rooms. He has no eyelids and finds it funny when the dead try to cling to their humanity.
 * The Valet's Uncle - Is the head valet in Hell.
 * Garcin's Wife - Well, it's Garcin's wife.
 * Gomez - One of Garcin's colleagues at the newspaper office.
 * Florence - The wife of Inez's cousin. She leaves him for Inez.
 * Inez's cousin - The cousin of Inez.
 * Peter - A young man who was in love with Estelle.
 * Roger - She was the man who Estelle had the affair with. He shoots himself after Estelle kills their child.
 * Estelle's husband - The older and wealthy husband of Estelle.
 * Olga - Estelle's friend. She doesn't cry at her funeral, and hits on Peter.

Author's Style
MWDS SECTIONS THAT GO HERE: Author's style and examples No Exit is a one act play, and it uses powerful direct and clipped writing style. This piece is unique, for majority of the text, all it is clipped dialogue. It is almost in a question an answer form. Here is an example. Valet: Can't you see? The lights are on. Garcin: Ah, yes, I've got it. It's your daytime. And outside? Valet: Outside? Garcin: Damn it, you know what I mean. Beyond that wall? Valet: There are more rooms, more passages, and stairs. Garcin: What lies beyond them? Valet: That's all.

Reference  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/noexit/

Setting
The setting takes place in Hell. But not your average Hell that you and me think of. There are no devils or demons. There are no flames nor torture chambers. All it is; a drawing room with French furniture. Now, Sartre is French and wrote the book in Paris, so this explains the furniture. But, why is Hell a room? A simple drawing room? This is for one reason. Sartre saw Hell as other people. Not the flames. Not the chambers. But as other people. This book represents one of Sartre famous quotes, "Hell is other people."

Themes

 * Isolation - In No Exit, 3 people are isolated in a room together, but they are not isolated from each other. Isolation is critical in No Exit for it gives those 3 people their punishment. This gets to my point. No matter how hard one may try, one will never fully be isolated.
 * Lies and Deceit - That's how the 3 people got sent to Hell in the first place. They lied and used trickery to manipulate anybody they wanted to. So, don't lie and deceit others. For they lead to bad outcomes.
 * Freedom - The 3 people stuck in Hell were free. They could do whatever they pleased. Their actions, however, had consequences, and now they are unhappy. Freedom is very important. Please, do not waste it.
 * Suffering - Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are in Hell, and are suffering. They will spend the rest of eternity suffering. Do you want to suffer?
 * Now, what do the above themes have in common? Choices. Choices, choices, choices. The choices you make guide what you for the rest of your life. You have to deal with the choices you made. So, be careful on what you do.

Motifs
A possable motif for this play is the since of dread and denial. They(the characters) know that they are in Hell, although Estelle denies it for much of the play. They all wait their torture, and the since of dread is inside them. But, then they realize that they are each other's hell, and now felling of being stuck is put on them. They are trapped together, inseparable.

Symbols

 * Paper-Knife - Represents a way out. But, this is a false way out for the people are already dead and can't kill themselves.
 * The Valet - Represents the messenger and deliver of death and damnation. He delivers each individual into their Hell.
 * Furniture - Represents what is left of the 3 people's humanity, for it reminds them of their past life.

Significance of the Opening/Closing Scenes

 * The opening scene is important for it introduces the setting. You get to see the drawing room, and all the furniture it contains. You get to know from the start where the play or at least part of the play will be held. Then, it also introduces two characters. One has no eyelids and is escorting the other man into the room.
 * The closing scene is important for it gets Sartre message out. It shows Garcin, Inez, and Estelle arguing and bickering. Each are annoying each other, but they can not escape. They are trapped there, forced to be each other's Hell. They realize this, and giggle as the curtain falls. Now the message. "Hell is other people."

Memorable Quotes
"So it comes to this, one doesn't need to rest. Why bother about sleep if one isn't sleepy?" It means life without solitude. Never sleeping means one is never alone. Quote 2 "Not Mrs. I'm unmarried." This is the first thing Inez reveals about herself. She tells this before her own name. Quote 3  "Sorry, sir. No offense ment. But all guests ask me the same questions. This is a statement made by the valet. His statement is, however, wrong. Most people ask these questions, not all. Inez didn't even ask a question.      Quote 4 "Well, well, I dare say one gets use to it in time. Garcin is talking about cooping and getting use to being in Hell early on. But, by the end of the play, it doesn't seem he has used to it at all. Quote 5 "That's good! You haven't yet got over your-what-do-you-call-it? Sense of human dignity. Excuse my smiling." The valet is talking to Garcin about Hell, and chuckles at him for still trying to cling to the remembrance of humanity.BTW, I wrote the preceding sentence all by myself.

Reference  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/noexit/

Allusions
The only two allusions that occur in the book are the furniture, and Hell. Hell is a concept on Christianity and that's where all the damn go. The furniture is Second Empire era style, which represents the history of France. For, the author is french.