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MonkeyNotes-No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre
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The audience gradually sees why Garcin, Inez and Estelle have
been put together in hell. Even before their deaths, they had never
been completely alive, for they had treated others as their
possessions and objects to be used. Garcin had been cruel and
unmerciful to his wife. Estelle had married an old man for his
money and immediately took a young lover; when she became
pregnant and had a daughter, she drowned the baby, causing her
lover to commit suicide. Inez had sucked the life out of her lover,
Florence, causing her to commit suicide and kill Inez in the
process. It is ironic that in Hell, Garcin, Inez, and Florence are no
longer in control. Each of them is dependent on another; Inez
wants Estelle, who wants Garcin, who longs for the approval of
Inez. It is a cruel, vicious, torturous circle.
In No Exit, the characters are already dead and condemned to Hell.
They have ruined their lives and have no chance for a second
attempt at redemption. With no future, they cannot change or
rectify their past sins. They truly have "no exit" from their misery
and torture. Even when the door opens to them, they cannot escape
from Hell. The play is really a gradual revelation of the eternal
hopelessness that the characters face. At times they try to remain
calm and treat each other well; but the civility never lasts for long.
As the realization of the magnitude of their misfortune dawns, their
emotional reactions intensify. Finally the "veil" is thrown aside,
and they accept the truth about themselves and their eternal
situation. They have no means to save themselves from each other,
for "knives, poison, ropes [are] all useless" in Hell.
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