Historical Context

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Occupation of France Influences Philosophy

World War II began to consume Europe in 1939. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany and launched an aggressive military campaign starting in 1936. By 1938, he had begun annexing European countries. France declared war on Germany in 1939, and by 1940, Hitler had invaded and conquered France. The European conflict concluded in the spring of 1945, leading to the liberation of Paris.

Life in France during World War II was extremely challenging. A significant portion of France, including Paris where Sartre resided, was occupied by Nazi Germany. Due to the occupation, many aspects of daily life came to a halt. In Sartre's depiction of hell, life is similarly stagnant. The occupation caused shortages of essential resources, such as heat and electricity. Sartre ironically comments on this by depicting an abundance of heat and light in hell. German censors controlled the theatrical performances and films shown in cinemas.

During the occupation, France was governed by the Vichy regime, which was nominally semi-independent but actually under Nazi control. French individuals who cooperated with the Nazis were labeled Collaborators. The prewar pacifists Garcin mentions were often viewed as Collaborators. Many French citizens resisted Nazi control by joining the Resistance, an underground movement that arose shortly after the Nazis seized Paris. Charles de Gaulle, a former official in the French government, organized a government-in-exile in Great Britain. In 1940, he urged French citizens to resist the Germans through a radio broadcast. Although only a few in France heard him, the Resistance was born.

The Resistance was not a formally structured organization but took various forms. It aimed to disrupt the supply and personnel deliveries to Germany. When the Germans conscripted French citizens to work in factories, many of these draftees fled to the hills and worked against the occupiers. Other citizens provided military intelligence to Great Britain and the Allies, aided downed British pilots, and distributed anti-German pamphlets. Sartre himself was active in the Resistance. By the end of World War II, the Resistance was believed to have significantly contributed to the liberation of Paris.

The wartime environment also transformed the intellectual landscape. The harsh realities of war compelled intellectuals to make political decisions, which was mirrored in the literature of the time. A new poetry of the Resistance emerged, characterized by direct language, with Paul Valéry being one of its most esteemed poets. Sartre played a significant role in the literary world, and his existentialist philosophy became the underpinning theory of the Resistance. Existentialists championed human liberty and emphasized individual responsibility. No Exit, an existentialist play, is seen as a symbol of Paris's liberation.

Style and Technique

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Jean-Paul Sartre's play, No Exit, serves as a profound exploration of existentialism and philosophical drama. Set in a confining and unremarkable drawing room, the play embodies hell not as a place filled with flames and torment, but rather as a state of mind created through the interactions of its characters. Through symbolic props and the classic structure of French drama's three unities, Sartre crafts a narrative that is both engaging and deeply reflective.

Setting as a Reflection of Hell

No Exit unfolds in a drawing room that represents hell, but not in the conventional fiery pit sense. It is simply a warm, stuffy room designed in the Second Empire style, offering a mundane backdrop where the real source of torment is not the setting itself, but the characters within it. The room has a locked door, a bell that only occasionally functions, and no mirrors or windows. These limitations enforce constant interaction among the three characters—Garcin, Estelle, and Inez—each of whom embodies a unique psychological torture...

(This entire section contains 613 words.)

Unlock this Study Guide Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

for the others. By placing hell in such a familiar environment, Sartre implies that hell is an internal state, magnified by the presence of others.

Symbolic Props and Character Insights

The sparse furniture and objects in the room carry significant symbolic weight. The three sofas—each a different color—serve more than just a practical purpose. Estelle’s choice of the blue sofa to match her dress highlights her superficiality, a trait that contributes to her eternal torment. The presence of a paper knife, though ultimately useless, symbolizes the futility of their situation when Estelle tries and fails to harm Inez with it, reinforcing her realization of being inescapably dead. The heavy bronze statue becomes an emblem of Garcin's doomed attempts to escape, signifying the permanence of their predicament. Meanwhile, Garcin's preoccupation with the bell, which symbolizes a tenuous connection to the outside world, underscores his lingering hope for escape, despite being repeatedly thwarted.

Visions of the Living World

Each character experiences visions of life outside their current confinement, serving as their last tether to the world of the living. These visions are not visible to the audience but play a crucial role in the characters' psychological dynamics. Garcin’s visions consist of his past life, including his newsroom colleagues deriding him as a coward and his mistreated wife's presence outside a prison, reflecting his unresolved guilt and need for validation. Estelle's visions are tied to Olga, her friend, who unveils Estelle's past misdeeds to Peter, a young admirer, leaving Estelle exposed and vulnerable. In contrast, Inez's visions revisit the room where she died with Florence, highlighting her isolation as no one living mourns her. These visions serve to underscore the characters' inner turmoil and unresolved issues.

The Unyielding Structure of Classical Drama

Sartre deftly employs the classical French drama's three unities—action, time, and place—to enhance the play’s intensity. No Exit adheres to a singular course of action, maintaining a relentless focus on the characters' interactions within the drawing room. The entire narrative unfolds in real-time, matching the actual duration of the performance, which encapsulates the characters' eternal entrapment. By confining the action to one location, Sartre ensures a concentrated exploration of existential themes, allowing for no distractions or deviations from the core purpose of the narrative.

Through these elements, No Exit becomes more than a play; it is a mirror reflecting the psychological and philosophical struggles of its characters, as well as a broader commentary on the human condition. The setting, props, and adherence to dramatic unities all coalesce to reveal Sartre’s vision of hell as an inescapable state of being, intricately tied to the presence and perceptions of others.

Compare and Contrast

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

1944: In Nazi-occupied France, German censors must approve any play before it can be performed.

Today: A controversial rating system has been implemented for television programs in the United States. These ratings are mainly intended to inform parents about content that may be unsuitable for children.

1944: Numerous plays and films focus on World War II and its societal impacts, either directly or indirectly.

Today: World War II remains a popular subject in television, cinema, and literature. One of the biggest box office hits in the United States in 1998 is Saving Private Ryan, which depicts the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France.

1944: The philosophy of existentialism emerges in France, a country ravaged by two world wars, as a means of grappling with concepts of good and evil, personal responsibility, and the nature of existence.

Today: Existentialism still influences literature and the arts, primarily through its adoption by more recent movements, such as the Beats, who emphasize individual responsibility.

Setting

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

As the curtain rises, the scene is set in a seemingly ordinary room, where a man named Garcin is escorted by a valet. At first glance, this space could easily be mistaken for a hotel suite or a guest room within a countryside mansion. The room is decorated in the French Second Empire style, a lavish blend of various historical aesthetics that give the impression of timelessness. Within this setting are three sofas, each upholstered in different hues—one a deep claret red, another a vivid green, and the last in a more subdued color. Garcin, the new inhabitant, also observes a bronze statuette by Ferdinand Barbedienne, famous for his replicas of renowned originals, which adds to the room's aura of inauthenticity.

Garcin further notes the absence of mirrors and is intrigued by the presence of a lone letter opener, questioning its use. The valet, who soon departs, hints that its purpose will become clear and informs Garcin that once he leaves, the door will lock, and the bell meant for summoning assistance is notoriously unreliable.

The room's oppressive atmosphere intensifies with the arrival of two women, similarly ushered in by the valet. As the three individuals interact, their conversations reveal personal conflicts and grudges. Through these exchanges, it becomes starkly apparent that they are trapped in Hell, condemned to spend eternity together. Despite their desperate attempts to escape, banging on the door and considering the use of the letter opener for suicide, they are faced with the futility of these actions since they are already deceased. Their suffering is perpetual, as they become tormentors of one another’s psyches. In this confined space, their existence becomes an endless cycle of emotional and psychological torture.

This room in Hell serves as a powerful metaphor for Jean-Paul Sartre's existential philosophy. Sartre suggests that external conditions hold no sway over individual lives; instead, people are solely accountable for their own fate, unable to shirk this pivotal responsibility. Through this setting, the narrative explores the concept that the true nature of Hell is not fire and brimstone but the inescapable company of others and the relentless confrontation of one's own choices and actions.

Media Adaptations

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

No Exit was adapted into a French film titled Huis Clos in 1954. The cast featured Arletty, Nicole Courcel, Louis De Furies, and Jean Debucourt.

In 1962, the play was once more transformed into a film, this time starring Rita Gam as Estelle and Viveca Lindfors as Inez.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

SOURCES

Gibb, Wolcott. "Dream Boy," The New Yorker, December 7, 1946, pp. 61-64.

Guicharnaud, Jacques. "Man and His Acts," in Sartre: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall, 1962, pp. 62-72.

Krutch, Joseph Wood. A review of No Exit in The Nation, December 14, 1946, p. 708.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit in No Exit and Three Other Plays, Vintage, 1976, pp. 1-47.

"Three in a Room," Newsweek, December 9, 1946, p. 92.

FURTHER READING

Barnes, Hazel E. Sartre, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1973.
This critical overview explores Sartre's life and body of work.

Champignay, Robert. Sartre and Drama, Summa Publications, 1982.
A thorough analysis of Sartre's contributions to theater, including No Exit.

Cohn, Ruby. "No Exit (Huis Clos)," in From "Desire" to "Godot": Pocket Theater of Postwar Paris, University of California Press, 1987, pp. 36-51.
This book offers background on various plays and their productions. The essay on No Exit provides insight into its writing, casting, and critical reception.

Contat, Michel, and Michel Rybalka, editors. Sartre on Theatre, Pantheon Books, 1976.
A compilation of documents penned by Sartre about theater, including his own plays.

Previous

Critical Essays

Next

Teaching Guide

Loading...