No Exit

Krystin Tavares This paper is free of punctuation errors. Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit is a symbolic definition of Sartrean existentialism that entails characters pretending to be something they are not through themes “self-deception” and “bad faith,” which satisfies Sartre’s “philosophical argument.” The play also support Sartre’s doctrine, “existence precedes essence,” through the plays central themes of freedom and responsibility.
No Exit consists of characters that are either existential cowards or existential villains; however, there are no existential hero’s in the play because e they play is set in existential hell. An existential hero is one who stands by their decisions, won’t let others decide for them, and is responsible. No Exit’s characters unfold the sins the have committed with each other but none of them accept responsibility for their choices. They blame all of their choices on circumstances. The reason this room is considered existential hell is because they are being punished for being existential cowards. The punishment forces them to constantly look for mirrors that mirror to the others their refusal to accept responsibility for their choices.
No Exit stresses “bad faith” and how it develops Sartre’s fundamental argument that “Hell is other people.” Sartre evokes torture simply with three people in an empty room. Inez is uneasy because every time Garcin looks at her she automatically thinks that he is judging her and consequently blames Garcin for “stealing her face.” Also, Estelle and Garcin cannot let go of their pasts or take responsibility for their past choices. Garcin even states that his “fate is an evaluation of his past actions by other people.” However, Inez chooses to live in the present and look at her past as meaningless. Inez never justifies her existence as the actual person she was in her past. She chooses her “essence in the present.” Only Inez asserts her existence. She does this through being responsible and confronting her suffering. This supports Sartre’s belief that “life begins on the other side of despair.
Inez contributes to the greater meaning of the work by standing out and confronting her responsibility and suffering unlike the others, especially, in an existential hell. This teaches us, that even in a hell-like state one can still be strong.