Summary and Analysis of the Play "No Exit"
Summary and Analysis of the Play "No Exit"
SUMMARY:
In the play, No Exit, Sartre describes an emotional merry-go-round in which Garcin, Inez, and Estelle love one another, but the love must remain unrequited. Inez is attracted to Estelle who is completely turned off by her. Estelle would like to flirt with Garcin who does not care for her. Garcin wants friendship from Inez, while she despises him. These three characters are stuck with one another, without any means of escape.
In the beginning of the play we are introduced to Garcin. He comes into the room, followed by the attendant. Immediately Garcin recognizes where he is but he does not mention the word “hell.” He is looking for the instruments of torture, but then he realizes that the torture he is going to be exposed to be of a rarer kind. While in this place, he cannot sleep nor close his eyes, not even a wink. The door is locked at all times but there is a doorbell. It functions for no good reason, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.
The attendant then leaves the presence of Garcin. Garcin is afraid and tries to ring the doorbell but it doesn’t work. He cries out for help but there is no answer. Shortly afterwards, the door opens and Inez comes in, accompanied by the servant. Garcin goes to her to introduce himself but she cuts him off by saying she knows who he is already. She knows him as “the tormentor.” Garcin tries to protest but she is right. Not only does she know who she is but she also knows that he is afraid. Being unemotional and strong herself, she looks at him with conceit and rejects his advances.
The door opens again and Estelle enters. She is complaining that the color of her couch clashes with her dress. Inez offers Estelle her own, but her offer is declined. She replies that only a gentleman’s couch would go with her dress. Garcin, slightly irked, rises, while Inez announces that she is very pleased to make Estelle’s acquaintance.
Estelle looks back on earth where they have just buried her. She says she died of pneumonia. Now the three of them start to discuss why...