EXISTENTIALIST WORKS

["NO EXIT"] - jean paul sartre

SETTING: hell

MAIN CHARACTERS: joseph garcin, estelle rigault, inez serrano

>Prisoners Confined With No Exit

     Imagine, life imprisonment with no way out.  Three individuals, Joseph Garcin, Estelle Rigault and Inez Serrano, were recently confined to a small quarter known the Second Empire drawing room.  The room was expected to be like the underworld but to their amazement, the room was found to be devoid of torture devices. There were, however, few conveniences, such as windows, mirrors, or toothbrushes. There were lights, which could not be turned off, a bell, which rarely worked, and a door, which normally opened only when the room-valet brings in a new arrival.

     Joseph Garcin of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was the first to arrive at the Second Empire drawing room earlier that day.  Later he was joined by Inez Rigault, a lesbian, postal clerk who felt her life was a hell in itself.  The last to arrive at the drawing room was Estelle Serrano of Paris, France.

     To make their existence in the Second Empire drawing room more miserable, Garcin, Estelle, and Inez were all able to see back to their homes and view their acquaintances.

     While in confinement Garcin and Estelle have been romantic, making Inez quite jealous.  Estelle reassured Garcin in his time of need because Inez was mocking him while Estelle was desperate for a man and would do anything to reassure him.

     In a rage of frustration, Garcin went to the door and tried to open it. To his amazement, the door opened, but he did not exit through it. He claimed that he must stay and convince the others that he is not a coward. Amazingly, Inez and Estelle also stayed inside the room, never trying to escape through the open door.

     Garcin accepted that he was in the Second Empire drawing room for good. Garcin, Estelle, and Inez realized that they have chosen to be together in the Second Empire drawing room forever . . . with no exit. They slumped onto their sofas and laughed heartily at the choice they have made.

>First Interview With The One Of The Three Confined Prisoners

     Joseph Garcin of Rio de Janeiro was the first of the three prisoners to arrive at the Second Empire drawing room. He was surprised to find that he was led into a Second Empire drawing room of ordinary appearance; there were no instruments of torture, fire, or brimstone as in the typical portrayal of Hell.

     Garcin lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he worked for a newspaper as a journalist. He was married to a weak-willed wife, whom he treated cruelly.  Night after night he would go out on her to entertain himself with wine and women. Garcin enjoyed the way he tortured her and had several adulterous affairs with her knowledge of them.  He tried to justify his cruel treatment of his wife by saying she brought it on herself. Garcin lied to himself and others; he tried to convince everyone, including himself, that he was really refined and noble.  He tried to impress the two women who are joined with him in the Second Empire drawing room with the fact that he was brave and noble.  In truth, he was a coward.  During the war, he deserted the battle and tried to cross the border into Mexico.  When he was spotted by the authorities, they fired at him, resulting in his confinement in the Second Empire drawing room.

     Garcin realized that the way that people treat one another is really what Hell is all about. He accepted that for eternity he would torture his two companions and be tortured by them.

>Interview with Second Prisoner of the Second Empire Drawing Room

Inez Serrano was the second of three prisoners to arrive in the Second Empire drawing room.  Before her incarceration, she was a postal clerk and admits that she lived a sinful life, taking a diabolical pleasure in the pain she inflicted on others. Inez was a self-described sadist.  She lived with her cousin and his wife, Florence, with whom she took part in a lesbian affair.  Without remorse, she sucked the life out of each of her female lovers, controlling their minds and bodies. Her last victim was Florence, whom she expects to see in Hell.  Inez is rude and mocking as she utters her existential truths.  It is she who explains that a person has the freedom to become who or what they want in life.  Inez admits that she is not a complex person, nor does she desire to be.  When Garcin tells her she should think about her existence and put herself in order, she immediately retorts, "My life was in perfect order.  It tidied itself nicely of its own accord.  So I need not bother about it now." When Estelle tried to push Inez out the open door so that she could have Garcin alone and all to herself, Garcin amazingly saved her. His whole purpose in staying in the Second Empire drawing room was to convince Inez that he was really not a coward.  Inez, however, will never believe that he is anything else.  She will continue to be his "hell," just as Estelle is hers.

>Interview with the Third Member of the Second Empire Drawing Room

Estelle Rigault, the attractive young woman who lived in Paris, France, was the last to arrive shortly after Inez Serrano. She married a man nearly twice her age, solely for the purpose of money that was much needed in order to take care of her family.  Her lack of affection in the dysfunctional marriage led to an affair with Roger, an impoverished young man who she became pregnant with.  But Estelle did not want the baby, and in a cowardly act, she went to Switzerland and when the baby was born, she murdered the infant in front of its father.  Roger, in a state of extreme despair, committed suicide, and Estelle could not even admit her cowardice as a motive for her lover's death while she explained her story to Garcin and Inez.  "It was absurd of him, really, my husband never suspected anything."  Estelle is undoubtedly the weakest of the three in the room, and denied the reasons for her presence in the Second Empire drawing room.  She even cowered from the usage of the word "dead," insisted on alternately using the term "absentee."

     Estelle, who believed herself to be lovely and refined, found the room pure torture. There were no mirrors in which she could admire herself; and as a result, she had to see herself through the eyes of Inez and Garcin, and they were not kind to her. In order to seduce Garcin, Estelle told him what he would like to hear. She had always been a mindless person with only concern for her personal satisfaction.