No Exit: An Existentialist Play by Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre portrays existentialism in his play, No Exit, through his three main characters Inez, who was put in Hell for causing annoyance to the people who distinguishd her, and is punish by loving some one who refuses to love her back, this in turn causes her pain Garcin ,who was put in Hell partially for being unkind and unfaithful to his wife and partially for being a coward, is punished by Estelles love and his inability to break cowardice and polishly Estelle, who was put in Hell for her vanity must receive love where she doesnt want it and non receive love where she does want it.Existentialism is a part of moral speak uping that is subjective to your individual experiences in the hostile universe and that hu valet de chambrekind lacks faith and purpose in the world and that adult male can do what they want, when they want, as long as they take responsibility for their actions. Inez Serrano describes herself as what some people down there called a damned slit ( pg. 25). Out of No Exits three main characters Inez seems to be the one who take ups the fact that they are all in Hell the most.She openly acknowledges that she has confound something unseasonable in her deportment and that she believes that Garcin and Estelle have in addition done something wrong. Shortly after meeting Estelle and Garcin Inez tells them, Yes, we are criminals murderers all three of us. Were in nuthouse my pets they never make mistakes, and people arent damned for nothing. (pg. 16) She believes that they are all damned souls and now they have to pay the reckoning. Inez seems not only to embrace the fact that they are in Hell more fully than her two companions, only if also to embrace existentialism more than they do.She tells them that each of Piccione 2 us will act as torturer of the two others. (pg. 17) Inez seems to realize that she has done something wrong and that she will have to take responsibility for her actions. During Inezs lifetime she was c old and cruel. She sucked the backup out of the people who loved her. Inez believes she is in Hell because she seduced her cousins wife. As a result her cousin died whether it was an accident or he killed himself seems remotely unclear. When Inez had Florence (her cousins wife) all to herself she claims that she used to remind Florence everyday we killed him between us. (pg, 26) Inez tells us that she was so cruel that she couldnt live without making people dumbfound. (pg. 26) Inez compares herself to a live coal in others hearts. (pg. 26) She tells us that she flamed away in Florences heart, till there was nothing but a cinder. One night she got up and turned on the gas while I was asleep. Then she crept back into bed. (pg. 26) This is how Inez died. Inez says that she does not regret doing what she did, although she does seem to know that it is the reason she is in Hell. During her lifetime Inez caused pain to those who loved her consequently she is now pained by the one she l oves.In Hell Inez loves Estelle. Estelle, however, does not love Inez back. This in itself would be painful for Inez, but to make it notwithstanding worse Estelle fawns over Garcin, begging him to love her. Inez is aware that Estelle is in love with Garcin. She tells him Youve taken her from me, even if I didnt see her Id timbre it in my bones that she was making every sound, every rustle of her dress, for your benefit, throwing you smiles you didnt see. Well, I wont stand for that. I prefer to remove my hell I prefer to look you in the eye and represent it out face to face. (pg. 2-23) Inez, most wish wellly, knows that she will never succeed in the fight for Estelles heart. She knows that Garcin and Estelle are here with her to cause her pain, but she chooses to fight anyway. While Inez is undeniably punished for her choices during her lifetime Piccione 3 in Hell she was also punished for them on Earth. It is said that every action has a reaction. Inezs action, so to speak, was her cruelty towards Florence. The reaction in this scenario was that she caused Florence to kill not only herself, but also Inez. Inez died because of how she treated Florence, and now she is in Hell because of it.Joseph Garcin describes himself as a well-beloved brute. (pg. 25) Garcin, as he calls himself, doesnt seem to comprehend death and Hell almost as well as Inez. Nor does he understand existentialism as well as she does, although he does understand it to an extent. When Garcin first arrives in Hell he asks where things like his toothbrush and toiletries are. This proves that he does not fully grasp the concept of actually being utterly and being in Hell. He attempts to play it off, refuse that they should be each others torturers. He attempts to portray himself as a hero.However once Garcin realizes that he is in Hell and cant thresh it he seems to know why. He also seems to realize, eventually, that they will inevitably be the others torturers. He says, Were chasin g after each other, round and round in a vicious circle. (pg. Garcin tells us that he is in hell because he treated his wife abominably. (pg. 24) However, I believe that this is not the only reason Garcin is in Hell. I think that his cowardice and the fact that he could never overcome it also put him in Hell. He would never admit it, but could also never escape it. Garcin, like Inez, tells us that I dont regret anything. (pg. 24) He continues to go on and say, I must pay the price. (pg. 24) From this advert we can assume that Garcin has come to accept that he is in Hell because of the way he treated his wife, and that he not only knows it, but realizes that he will have to be punished for it. But he never does admit to his cowardice. He tells us that he was a coward. This haunts him. He had given himself an ultimatum during his life time face death with courage, and he would be no coward, or face Piccione 4 death miserably and he would always feel like a coward. Now even with deat h he cant escape this.It shouldnt matter that he didnt face his death courageously because there is nothing he can do to change that now, but it still bothers him to no end. Garcin is punished for each of his wrong doings. Firstly he is punished for treating his wife badly by her never crying. As much as he thought she should cry and she should scream she never did. This frustrated Garcin. He scorned her big, sad, accusing eyes that never shed a tear. Even in death he sees her and immediately is annoyed by those eyes. In Hell he is also punished for his unfaithfulness. He no longer needs to cheat on his wife for the sake of hurting her, she wouldnt ever know.Now that he has no motivation to be with another woman he has another woman, Estelle, throwing herself at him. Garcin is also punished for his cowardice. Since he could never accept that he was a coward, nor could he ever sincerely deny that he was a coward, for he knew he was, but wished he wasnt, he must now he needs someone to tell him he is not a coward. Estelle wants to tell Garcin what he wants to hear, but Inez is there, in the background, coitus Garcin that she doesnt care if he is a coward and that she is fair telling him what he wants to hear without really meaning it.Estelle admits to him that she doesnt care if he is a coward or not and he cant bear it. He tries to leave, but when the door opens he realizes he wont leave. Garcin wishes to convince Inez that he is not a coward, and will stay until he can do so. The day Garcin convinces Inez he is not a coward will be the day Garcin convinces himself he is not a coward, but that day will never come. The last of the three characters is Estelle. Estelle is a high society lady from Paris. She doesnt grasp that she is in Hell, nor does she grasp what it means.When Estelle first arrives in Hell she seems to think its just like any other hotel shes been to, telling the valet she will call Piccione 5 him when she needs him, not realizing that she is b eing punished and no one will be trying to make her comfortable and happy. Estelle does not seem to grasp existentialism. She does not seem to be willing to admit that she has done something wrong in her life. When she first sees Garcin she believes that he is someone else who she knew during her lifetime. We later find out that she thought he was her sports fan.She believes that he will have no face, and that he was performing a rather nasty trick on her. When Estelle is asked what she did wrong, and why she is in Hell she completely denies knowing why. Estelle later reveals that she had a lover, the man who she expected Garcin was, and that they had a barbarian together. She tells us that she didnt want the child and once it was born she killed it. Her lover on the other hand did want the child. Once the child was dead and they had parted their ways her lover killed himself. Although Estelle does not admit to feeling guilty or remorse about this she does. Estelle is also vain.Sh e married for money, and seems to disregard those who dont have the wealth or status that she did. She needs to look good and for everything around her to cater to her. Estelle is punished vanity. Because Estelle is vain it bothers her that the furniture does not match her outfit. Estelle also cant stand not knowing how she looks. She needs a mirror, therefore there are none, to touch up her make up and make her feel beautiful even to know that she exists. Estelle is also punished for not accepting love. Because Estelle was vain she couldnt bear the thought of having a child and ruining her life and her image.Having a child with a man that wasnt her husband would undoubtedly make her look bad. It is said that a mother loves its child unconditionally, and that child will love its mother back. You dont choose to love your parents you just do for the sole reason that they are your parents. When Estelle killed her baby Piccione 6 she was denying herself the love of the one person who w ould truly love her no matter what. Now that she is in Hell she is punished by having one person there who truly loves her, and sees no wrong in her. This person is Inez. Consequently Estelle will never love Inez.She doesnt approve of her because she was a post office clerk and not a high society person. Also Estelle will never love Inez because she believes she needs a man to complete her. On the contrary Inez is homosexual. When Estelle killed her baby her lover ended up killing himself. She returned to Paris and cut him out of her life. He couldnt take it anymore and brought death upon himself. Since Estelle didnt value a mans love during her lifetime she now loves a man who doesnt love her back. Garcin doesnt really want anything to do with Estelle however, he eventually gives in.But this does not mean that Garcin loves Estelle he merely gives in to temptation and his cowardliness, not knowing what else to do. Garcin will never truly love Estelle, yet Estelle wishes and begs him to love her. Satres picture of existentialism in his play No Exit calls attention to the part of existentialism that concerns moral thinking and dealing with the consequences of your actions. Estelle, Inez, and Garcin have all done something that they think is morally incorrect in their lives and because of this they must all face the punishment for it.