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No Exit and Three Other Plays

by Jean-Paul Sartre

4.03 · rating details · 7,926 ratings · 355 reviews

In these four plays, Jean-Paul Sartre, the great existentialist novelist and philosopher, displays his mastery of drama. NO EXIT is an unforgettable portrayal of hell. THE FLIES is a modern reworking of the Electra-Orestes story. DIRTY HANDS is about a young intellectual torn between theory and praxis. THE RESPECTFUL PROSTITUTE is a scathing attack on American racism. ...more

Paperback, 275 pages

Published September 12th 1955 by Vintage (first published 1949)

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Jan 30, 2011

Cassandra Silva rated it

Shelves: philosophy, theatre

I am surprised no one said much about the piece "Dirty Hands" since it was terribly interesting and took up a great deal of this book. Though I love No exit and think that the punch line was both clever and well developed I think that Dirty Hands was by far a more enjoyable work. It was extremely clever, the wit was harsh. The characters manipulative and yet humorously negatable. The deep political messages, the thoughts surrounding "purity of political ideals". For some reas...more

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Nov 10, 2009

Madeline rated it

Shelves: assigned-reading

A brief one-act that seems much longer than it really is. Alternately horrible and funny, it's Sartre's take on Hell, which can be described as such: a small hotel room with no windows or mirrors, a door that is usually locked, and three couches. Three people - Garcin, Ines, and Estelle - are all brought to this room by what I can only guess is a bellboy. (I read this in French, so forgive any factual errors that I missed as a reult of that) Everyone keeps asking, "Where's the torturer?"...more

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Mar 02, 2009

Adeline rated it

Jean Paul Sartre uses hell for the setting of his existentially significant work, No Exit. While Sartre is an atheist, he uses a place that is fundamentally connected to Christian beliefs. Yet Sartre's hell is vastly dissimilar to the Christian conception of hell, and makes no reference to a God or Satan. Ultimately, the hell in No Exit serves the same purpose as a Christian hell: to torment and torture. The methods used are different, but the result is the same. In fact, Sartre's hell is more i...moreJean Paul Sartre uses hell for the setting of his existentially significant work, No Exit. While Sartre is an atheist, he uses a place that is fundamentally connected to Christian beliefs. Yet Sartre's hell is vastly dissimilar to the Christian conception of hell, and makes no reference to a God or Satan. Ultimately, the hell in No Exit serves the same purpose as a Christian hell: to torment and torture. The methods used are different, but the result is the same. In fact, Sartre's hell is more intense than a Christian one because not only is one tortured, but one tortures others, and most importantly oneself. A Christian hell features external tortures, but in Sartre's one is his or her own torturer.
While a Christian hell offers fire and brimstone, infinite lakes of fire, and the rack, Sartre's hell consists of little more than confinement and human company. In fact, Sartre's hell ultimately proves to offer an escape; it's the people who choose to continue their torment. Sinners sent to a Christian hell “shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Pain and destruction might be the ultimate punishment for a Christian, but for Sartre's existentialist characters the judgment of “the other” is the greatest torture.
When Sartre's three main characters enter the scene, they are shocked by the lack of sinister “instruments of torture” (No Exit, 4). Slowly, Garcin begins to understand the nature of his torture, if not the actual form it will take. “Ah”, he says, “it's life without a break” (5). Once Garcin observes the lack of eyelids in his hell, he realizes there will be no escape. The rack and poker can only cause so much pain. But this hell is eternal, without even a momentary respite. A Christian hell offers physical tortures, but a Sartrean hell dispenses psychological torture. Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are to be eternally plagued with each other's company. And of course, with company comes judgment.
Inez is the only one who comprehends the torture that the company of others is to be. She is also the only member of the trio who outrightly admits to her sins. Inez explains the nature of the group's sinning: “There have been people who burned their lives out for our sakes – and we chuckled over it” (17). Inez is the only character who is not in “bad faith”; she is completely aware of her cruelty and need for dominance. She desires domination and admits that she “can't get on without making people suffer” (26). As a lesbian, she transgresses the lines of typical sexual interactions and takes on a typically male role. The other two sinners, Garcin and Estelle, outrightly deny that they have sinned. Estelle, in fact, goes so far as to claim that a mistake has occurred; surely she doesn't belong in hell! Bur Inez knows better. She knows that “they never make mistakes” (16) in hell, and that her two companions are being untruthful.
Ultimately the group's concern with “the other” stems from power. All three have different needs for power and control. Inez must control others with the intent of causing harm. Estelle needs to feel desired, and by feeling desired she believes herself to have control. She is also particularly disturbed by the lack of mirrors in hell, because she needs to “see [herself:] as others saw [her:]” (19). Garcin is, it seems, the least power-hungry of the trio but he nonetheless asserts his dominance over his wife and over Estelle. Estelle fixates on Garcin and seeks his admiration because he is the only available male. Though Inez affirms her beauty, it is not enough for Estelle. She needs a man to affirm her. Garcin takes advantage of this situation as much as he took advantage of his wife. Estelle is weak in the same way that Garcin's wife was – she is willing to accept sub-par treatment as long as she has a man. Garcin wishes to use Estelle to affirm his bravery. If he can convince Estelle that he is truly a brave man, then he somehow feels better. Of course, Estelle doesn't care one way or the other about Garcin's true self; “Coward or hero, it's all one – provided he kisses well” (38).
Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are unendingly confronted with the judgment of others as their punishment, as well as the company of each other who happen to be equally judgmental and simultaneously terrified of judgment. While Inez seems completely aware of her transgressions, the other two are in total denial. In fact, they are unwilling to truthfully share the circumstances of their deaths. They lie in an attempt to hide from the negative judgments of their companions, just as they eluded justice for their actions while on earth. However, once the truth does come out, and once Inez has fully expanded on her own cruelty, it becomes like a sort of contest amongst the the trio. Each person wants to explain how cruel they were and what “power” they held over the other. Estelle made a man die, Garcin tortured his wife, Inez seduced a woman and led her to her death. Surely they must be important, special, and powerful to have had such a profound effect on the other? But even with this shallow victory they continue to require affirmation from the other. The way they are thought of on the earth they no longer inhabit becomes of extreme importance.
All three characters claim that they don't care about others, and they outline their cruelties without any real sign of remorse. It seems like a badge of pride that they have been able to inflict so much damage on others. The strange contradiction to this is their unending concern with the judgment of others. They view the other as essentially useless, a petty object to be toyed with, and yet they can't handle the prospect of being thought negatively of. The three look down at the people they left behind and hope their minds are focused on the deceased. If people on earth still value them, then their lives continue to be significant. Estelle wants men on earth to miss and admire her, Garcin wants his peers to respect him and affirm that he is not a coward. Garcin's “fate” (39) has been left in the hands of others, and the prospect scares him. Even after they realize that earth is somewhat separate from them, they cannot let go of the need for affirmation from each other. Even in hell they need affirmation; Estelle believes that if Garcin loves her, then she can be happy and have power, for example.
When the three are given the opportunity to leave hell and the hell of each other's company, they don't take it. They are so wrapped up in the need for affirmation that they can't leave each other until they are sure they have it. Garcin stares at the open door and says, “I couldn't leave you here, gloating over my defeat” (42). He then proceeds to shut the door and continue what is now SELF-imposed torture. This is where the most significant difference between a Christian hell and a Sartrean one becomes highly apparent. In the Christian hell there is the rack and the poker to torture the sinner. But in the case of the poker, someone else must inflict pain. In Sartre's hell the sinners torture themselves.
Hell is not only a place of unending “judgment”, but to a Christian part of the torture of hell is the absence of God. Once one is damned to hell they are forever without God's love and presence. Obviously, Sartre does not care if God is present, and the three sinners in Sartre's hell seem to have no notion whatsoever of a God. The fact that their hell lacks God is irrelevant. But there is a different sort of lack that causes their torture. They lack the presence of others who can make them feel good about themselves and make their lives meaningful. They look down on earth and observe the lives they no longer touch, and the consciousness of those people somehow define their own existence. As the ability to see down to earth fades away, so does their importance on earth. Estelle looks down and as long as she can see her old life she is only “half here” (32) in hell. When Garcin's view down to earth is gone, he surrenders and claims, “I've left my fate in their hands” (39). His hope is that even though he cannot see the earth anymore, the earth will remember him.
Of course, the remembrances of others are not enough to satisfy Sartre's characters. The specific WAY in which they are remembered is of equal, if not more, importance. Garcin is fixated on being remembered as a brave man. Estelle wants to see that her beaus still desire her. All the characters are also fixated on each other. Inez is the most diabolical, it seems, but we see a certain degree of weakness in her. While she does seem cold, she is also very dependent on trapping Estelle's emotions. But it is hard to tell whether she needs love or if she genuinely needs to hurt the psyches of others in order to be happy. Considering that up to this point she has been the only one living “in good faith”, she can be seen as truly cruel. She may need to make others miserable in order to be happy, but we can assume she will have no problem finding such happiness. She is, after all, in hell, where torture is on the menu and she is an expert chef. In fact, her power to make the others suffer is so great that they don't even run from her when the opportunity arises. Garcin could run from her when the door opens, but she has entrapped him so thoroughly that he cannot leave without her blessings regarding his character.
In Sartre's hell there is no God and no Satan, as well as no implements for physical suffering. And yet the three characters who find themselves there are in agony. They rely on the positive opinions of others, and both their companions and those they left on earth do not give them this affirmation. Sartre's hell runs with great economy, as the tortured become their own torturers, and no one can leave because of their dependence on others. Locks are unnecessary in his hell, as the damned become psychologically dependent on each other – even as they feel pure hatred for the other. The Sartrean notion of hell offers a level of psychological torture that a Christian hell cannot achieve: the pain of torturing oneself. And unlike a Christian hell, there is no need to employ torturers or buy any tools. The damned take care of the torturing without any input or supervision. A fantastically effective hell that requires no effort on the part of any outside entity. What could be more perfect?(less)

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Nov 12, 2008

Lucy rated it

Shelves: senior-year-bookshelf

The second book I read is No Exit by Jean Paul Satre. I thought this book was really psychological and reminded me of a lot of things. In the book 3 people were brought to this place where there was thing but them. The theme of the book was to be yourself and not let anyone judge you. People do not make who you are, you are yourself. The 3 protagonists were unable to get pass people’s opinions so they were unable to leave. In life I think everyone cares about what others think of them. The only ...more

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Sep 04, 2007

Rachel rated it

Shelves: autodidactic, fiction

I wish I had years and years left of college so I could have fit in all the classes I could dream of. If I did, I would have taken an course in existentialism. Unfortunately it was only ever briefly touched on in one philosophy class, but the brief mention was enough to ignite an interest that I was free to pursue on my own.

I would recommend that anyone who finds comfort in exitentialism, like myself, read NO Exit. The line "Hell is other people" might be one of my favorit...more

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Dec 22, 2011

Sue rated it

More an illustration of Existentialist concepts than a true drama; still the one-act play about 2 women and a man in hell, coming to terms with their own lack of self concept, or their dependency on others for a sense of self is intellectually interesting (and very quick read). Existentialism was always so empowering to me, but in this play, it seems more nihilistic or fatalistic than I recall. And the fact that it takes place in hell, after the three main characters have died, strikes me as mor...more

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Aug 22, 2011

thewanderingjew rated it

· review of another edition

When a friend asked if I had seen the play or the movie based on Sartre's "No Exit", my curiosity was piqued. I searched online and found a version I could read. In this brief one-act play, Sartre illuminates the human condition and the consequences of behavior. Actions often taken lightly, reverberate and leave disaster in their wake. The three main characters are dead. In life, they were each, in their own way, responsible for a tragic ending. They are now in Hell, where they are for...moreWhen a friend asked if I had seen the play or the movie based on Sartre's "No Exit", my curiosity was piqued. I searched online and found a version I could read. In this brief one-act play, Sartre illuminates the human condition and the consequences of behavior. Actions often taken lightly, reverberate and leave disaster in their wake. The three main characters are dead. In life, they were each, in their own way, responsible for a tragic ending. They are now in Hell, where they are forced to explore their sins. They are forced to face them and take responsibility for their actions. There is a purpose and design to the combination of the souls together, in the room with no exit.

Ines is a lesbian. She is the most realistic about their plight and is the intuitive foil used to move the play along, used to expose each of the other character's faults. Estelle is consumed with her own vanity, her own image. Garcin is a coward who does not want to face his own weakness or his true self image. All three are in denial about the errors of their ways and their deaths. Each has been involved in an affair of the heart, which ended in dreadful circumstances because of their transgressions. Each has been consumed, in the conduct of their lives, by the selfish satisfaction of their needs, without regard for the pain those actions caused in there aftermath.

When at the beginning, Garcin says to the valet: “So one has to live with one's eyes open all the time?”, my first thought was, so that is Hell, having to face oneself. Later, near the very end, he says: "Hell Is Other People” and I realized the simplicity of the message the play imparts. Hell is being placed in a situation where you have to face yourself through the eyes of other people, others who are relentless in their effort to expose and judge you, the very thing you avoided during your lifetime, the truth.

The three people chosen to be together in the room with no exit, have been condemned to the constant exploration of their character flaws through their intimate conversations. They lay bare the imperfections in each other and, therefore, can no longer hide from their own. Their torture was not physical but emotional and mental. They must constantly face their shortcomings with no hope for redemption. In the same way they tortured others in their lives, with dreadful consequences, they now are tortured by the actions of their "roommates" who are consumed with themselves and their own cruel natures, bent on exposing each other and forcing each to witness the humiliation of their shameful ways and horrible consequences of their shallowness, perhaps over and over through eternity. There is no escape from that kind of Hell.

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May 16, 2011

Eric Sonnenschein rated it

I have a special affection for NO EXIT because, along with THE STRANGER and IRRATIONAL MAN, it was my introduction to existentialism, the very cool "philosophical attitude" that seemed to fit me as well as my Levi 501s.

The ingenious set-up of 3 mismatched people in a stark room, offering no comfort or companionship, but only laying their respective trips on one another seemed to represent most of the relationships I had and saw around me--and I was only in my teens! "...moreI have a special affection for NO EXIT because, along with THE STRANGER and IRRATIONAL MAN, it was my introduction to existentialism, the very cool "philosophical attitude" that seemed to fit me as well as my Levi 501s.

The ingenious set-up of 3 mismatched people in a stark room, offering no comfort or companionship, but only laying their respective trips on one another seemed to represent most of the relationships I had and saw around me--and I was only in my teens! "Hell is other people" could have summed up my feeling about the human species into which I was born. Unfortunately, this uninformed early impression of humanity would not be reversed by subsequent experience.

We humans are weak and alone. We seek strength, understanding, and support in others (why would be in GOOD READS, otherwise?) but often what we receive is indifference and "otherness"--an assortment of extraneous and antagonistic attitudes that undermine what coherence we have found in our perceptions and what belief we have had in ourselves.

How often do we go to the mail hoping for some real communication only to receive a pile of bills and junk mail? How often do people try to sell us items that we don't need? How many people try to attract our attention to entertainments and causes that are promised to satisfy us in some way when all they do is waste our time? This is the "chatter" Heidegger refers to, the ambient noise of being

Anyone who has enrolled in a creative writing workshop can relate to Sartre's bumper sticker observation. There you are in the proverbial room with no exit among strangers who have randomly chosen to be in the same room. You are all alike in an important respect: you have a creative impulse that the weight of deadening experience has not been able to snuff. You think that you may have found your tribe. But what you have found is that nervous crowd of anxious individuals, that DeTocqueville wrote about, who feel they are unique, yet look around and see that they are not.

Competition sets in with , politically correct praise qualified by nitpicking exceptions. Each person wants to rewrite your piece in their own way, or claims to have liked what you wrote, except for the aspect that you liked and believed in the most. You don't know where you stand or who to believe or if it's even worth going on. I have often thought that you only know you're a writer if you can endure several writing workshops and still be a writer after it's all over. No parental objection can kill the creative spirit as well other creative people.

Maybe that is Sartre's point in NO EXIT. You can only be truly human when you have gone through the spiritual meat-grinder of other people in a spare room, and come to terms with the essential aloneness among others that is the gift and curse of freedom.

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Jan 06, 2011

Henry added it

Shelves: drama

"No Exit"
Garcin: Open the door! Open, blast you! I'll endure anything, your red-hot tongs and molten lead, your racks and prongs and garrotes--all your fiendish gadgets, everything that burns and flays and tears--I'll put up with any torture you impose. Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind, this creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough.

Garcin: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the ...more"No Exit"
Garcin: Open the door! Open, blast you! I'll endure anything, your red-hot tongs and molten lead, your racks and prongs and garrotes--all your fiendish gadgets, everything that burns and flays and tears--I'll put up with any torture you impose. Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind, this creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough.

Garcin: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.
Inez: Prove it. Prove it was no dream. It's what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one's made of. . . . Ah, wasn't I right when I said you were vulnerable? Now you're going to pay the price, and what a price! You're a coward, Garcin, because I wish it. I wish it--do you hear?--I wish it. And yet, just look at me, see how weak I am, a mere breath on the air, a gaze observing you, a formless thought that thinks you.

Garcin: So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is--other people!

"The Flies"
Orestes: You are right. No hatred; but no love, either. You, Electra, I might have loved. And yet--I wonder. Love or hatred calls for self-surrender. He cuts a fine figure, the warm-blooded, prosperous man, solidly entrenched in his well-being, who one fine day surrenders all to love--or to hatred; himself, his house, his land, his memories.

Orestes: Why, since it is their lot, should I deny them the despair I have in me?
Zeus: What will they make of it?
Orestes: What they choose. They're free; and human life begins on the far side of despair.

Orestes: Yes, my beloved, it's true, I have taken all from you, and I have nothing to offer in return; nothing but my crime. But think how vast a gift that is! Believe me, it weighs on my heart like lead. We were too light, Electra; now our feet sink into the soil, like chariot-wheels in turf. So come with me; we will tread heavily on our way, bowed beneath our precious load. You shall give me your hand, and we will go--
Electra: Where?
Orestes: I don't know. Toward ourselves. Beyond the river and mountains are an Orestes and an Electra waiting for us, and we must make our patient way towards them.(less)

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Jul 25, 2011

Nathan added it

"Hell is--other people"

I only read the title play of this book, so I can't comment on the other three. But "No Exit" is an intriguing perspective on hell written through Sartre's existentialist pen

Three people who don't otherwise know each other find themselves locked together in a single room. They reach some startling conclusions as they explore their afterlife:

"In short, there's someone absent here, the official torturer.... It's obvious what they're after--an econo...more

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Sep 26, 2011

John rated it

· review of another edition

All four of these plays address issues of conscious choices and their consequences. In "No Exit," Sartre starts with the consequences, but uses these to illustrate the very choices which caused them. There's little I can add to what has already been written about this classic one-act, although one is left with the sense that Sartre's vision of Heaven would likely be as horrific as his vision of Hell.

Both "The Flies" and "Dirty Hands" center around charac...more

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Aug 20, 2009

Amber rated it

To be fair, we only read No Exit. No one ever reads The Flies in high school English, though.

No Exit drove me, and I am sure, countless other 15-year-olds to discover that everything they believed could be boiled down to some kind of accessible existentialism. I never read any Nietzsche and I didn't get into any Camus until two years later, but the idea that we are all responsible for what we do- not a God who, if he existed, has abandoned us- and not taking responsibility is the wor...more

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Jul 23, 2011

Kurt rated it

I found this collection on sale at a bookstore that was going out of business, and I've seen plenty of cultural references to No Exit, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to read the play for myself. I expected this collection to be pretentious, but I was pleasantly surprised to find four plays that explore philosophical issues in the context of stories that pulse with vitality.

The title play is clearly the most effective, as three cruel and funny and needy and undeniably...more

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May 29, 2007

Trixie B rated it

Recommends it for: the morbid and antisocial

I only read 'No Exit' but I liked it, pretty much. I wasn't aware that the quote "Hell is...other people." came from this play, but I've always agreed with the sentiment. I wouldn't say it's groundbreaking or anything (though I know nothing about the historical context, so it may have been when it came out) but it's a solid, easy read with a simple, resonant point.

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Apr 26, 2009

Melissa Gray rated it

I read several of the plays in this book, and enjoyed them all.
No Exit is definitely thought-provoking, and was discussed with my book club. Its interesting to get an existential interpretation of Hell. I'd say its worth a read, plus its short.

Respectful Prostitute. I found this play interesting and frustrating. A story about racial tensions, class divisions, and "patriotism", this play will both arouse pity and annoyance towards the characters. Its kind of lik...more

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Mar 29, 2009

Samantha rated it

This play is amazing. Jean Paul Sartre perfectly highlights humankind’s absurd existence by depicting three characters in their afterlife. It's humorous nature goes hand in hand with the grim reminder that all the characters featured in the play are really in hell. Although you may emphatize with theses characters at some point in the play, Sartre brilliance exists in the title's itself. There is No Exit for they are in Hell.

The fact that for the continuation of eternity all three ch...more

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Feb 06, 2008

Spencer Hicks rated it

i dont even remember this book--i just remember not being that impressed. come to think of it, i don't remember half the books on here, but i rate them nonetheless. i shouldn't even be allowed on here.

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Sep 01, 2011

Susanna rated it

Shelves: 11th-grade-reading

The book No Exit written by Jean-Paul Sarte is a fiction book. In this book it talks about 3 souls, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle being in the same room arranged by Valet. This book reminds me of Inferno where each ring has a punishment for people in the underworld. This book reminds me of Inferno because, each soul that’s in the room has done things that are similar to each other and they are in the room making each other miserable. My favorite part in this book was when Garcin had the chance to le...more

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Mar 17, 2010

Donson Liu rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 14, 2009

Brian rated it

Shelves: philosophical-other

I only read No Exit from this book but I thought it was brilliant. Sartre explains through this play that we ultimately define and live ourselves through others. It makes me think of tarzan, if one was raised by apes they would be an ape even though a human, but put that person in a room with other humans and the human condition remodels their behavior. Tarzan would live as an ape because he would live through those around him. We continue to grow as beings in our unique way because we continue ...more

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Jul 25, 2011

Colin N. rated it

"No Exit," Sartre's most famous play, is clearly the standout here and is excellent. Surreal, haunting, darkly comic. "Dirty Hands" is also quite good, concerning the internal struggle of a young communist tasked to commit an assassination. "Prostitute" is fine as a broad critique of racism in the U.S., but is a bit blunt. "Flies" is the least successful of these four plays. Sartre reworks the Electra myth to expound on his ideas of freedom, as Oreste...more

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Oct 25, 2009

Kirsten rated it

Recommends it for: Any one who ever has had the thought,' the devil you know is beter than the devil you don' know."

Recommended to Kirsten by: Required reading in an existentialism class.

Shelves: re-read

I finally found a used copy of no exit. It's a short play, and reread it in one sitting. Still love it.

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Aug 02, 2011

Vance Dubberly rated it

No exit is probably what most people think of when they they think of Sartre. Yes they'll say oh it's all about Being and Nothingness. But frankly almost nobody has read that. No Exit is where most of the mythos comes from, existentialist as despairing individualist wretch, or as begrudging social animal. The play itself is about three people trapped in hell in a bizarre triangle of need. More importantly it is about Bad Faith, and failure to cope with the human condition. The line most quo...more

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Dec 08, 2011

Phil rated it

Shelves: drama

These four plays were excellent. I had once heard Sartre described as a great philosopher and a moderate creative writer, while Camus was a great writer and a moderate philosopher, but these plays definitely qualify as top notch writing.
All of the plays deal with existentialist themes, but they do so in a way that doesn't seem to distract from the story or the writing.
First is No Exit, by far Sartre's most famous play. Three people damned to hell discover that there are none of the f...moreThese four plays were excellent. I had once heard Sartre described as a great philosopher and a moderate creative writer, while Camus was a great writer and a moderate philosopher, but these plays definitely qualify as top notch writing.
All of the plays deal with existentialist themes, but they do so in a way that doesn't seem to distract from the story or the writing.
First is No Exit, by far Sartre's most famous play. Three people damned to hell discover that there are none of the firey torments or brutal devils promised on earth, rather there is merely the three of them together in a room for all eternity. And each needs something from the others that the others are incapable of providing. This is the torture of hell--and implicitly the hellishness of earth--that others can never truly give us what we require of them.
Next is Flies. I really liked this re-telling of the ancient Greek Electra myth. In this case Orestes returns to an Argos desolated by superstition and corrupt rulers who perpetuate those superstitions to remain in positions of power they no longer want. And his sister Electra dreams of the violent vengeance Orestes will bring with him. But when he has actually killed the king and queen Electra disowns the crime. But even when Zeus attempts to convince him to disown the crime, Orestes remains (as a true existentialist hero) loyal to his own actions, even as he acknowledges them as evil.
In Dirty Hands we see a very different figure from Orestes for most of the play. Hugo is unable to act throughout most of the drama. And he (taking on the role of Zeus, from Flies) develops sophisticated arguments against taking action. But then, when he finally does take action and carries out the assassination he was ordered to committ, the Party changes their policy and asks Hugo to disown the crime in order to be 'salvagable.' Again, as a true existential hero, Hugo refuses to reject his crime and accepts death as a consequence of his actions rather than the bad faith act of denying what he's done.
Last is the very short play The Respectful Prostitute. This play is actually really disturbing. Basically I see it as a commentary on how effectively and how totally those who are willing to abuse their cultural authority--politically connected, Southern white men, in this case--can exert almost total control over others. the ending is really rather horrifying as Fred experiences a violent sexual thrill at the lynching of a random African American and goes to Lillie's place to basically rape her. But that theme--racial violence linked to sexuality--is a somewhat common theme in southern anti-racist literature; what's really disturbing here is that Lillie gives in with very little resistance even though she knows what's going on and how twisted Fred is.(less)

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Sep 07, 2011

Yoon-ho rated it

This book contains four of Sartre's plays : "No Exit," "The Flies," "Dirty Hands," and "The Respectful Prostitute." All four plays are excellent, "No Exit" being the most famous and probably the best of them all. They might as well be called the "plays of ironies." "No Exit" is Sartre's portrayal of hell - we torment ourselves by seeking meanings in the wrong things, esp. things we can't get. "The Flies" is a rew...more

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Dec 15, 2010

Michael rated it

Shelves: ap-english, read-in-2010, classics

No Exit falls into a familiar trap: an author sacrifices an interesting storyline because he/she spends too much time trying to prove a point. When reading, I didn't feel like I was supposed to care about the three characters but was instead left wondering what the existential meaning was behind the lack of mirrors and eyelids, etc. And the complete lack of any resolution (which I suppose is understandable; they are in Hell, after all) leaves much to be desired.

However, I did find so...more

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Jun 28, 2011

Ensiform rated it

Shelves: fiction, french

Four plays:

"No Exit," translated by S. Gilbert. Three strangers, locked in a room. Can't really say anything about this brilliant allegory without revealing too much. It should be very widely read.

"The Flies," translated by S. Gilbert. A reworking of the Orestes/Electra story. I liked it better than Euripides'. Sartre made the characters multi-faceted and real; he also added Zeus as an adversary of Orestes who feeds on remorse. Orestes' refusin...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Erik Graff rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Sartre fans

Recommended to Erik by: friends

Shelves: drama

Sartre was marginally popular with some high school friends, particularly his novel, Nausea, and play, No Exit. I started the former at a boring party at Bill Causer's home at the Park Ridge School for Girls one night, but didn't get far. I didn't relate to the paranoid attitude and put it down. Years later, his Being and Nothingness was assigned--same attitude, but this time an obligation to complete the thing.

Some time towards the end of high school I gave Sartre another chance....more

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Feb 07, 2011

Amanda rated it

Shelves: plays, classics, translations, 2011

(No Exit only)

In this play, three people who have died and gone to Hell are placed together in a single room with no way out. They don’t know why they’ve been placed there, or why they’ve been put together. They slowly come to realize that they are each others’ torturers, or perhaps each others’ salvation.

Okay! Now we’re in the good section of these reviews. I picked No Exit up Friday night because I didn’t want to end the night on the bad note of pointless nonfiction. I knew...more

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Nov 10, 2008

Henry rated it

Shelves: advisorybook08-09

I found No Exit a very amusing and unusual play. I thought the topic that Satre decided to write about was extremely interesting because I would have never to expect to read a play in which people are sent to hell and they didn’t even know why and they all are so confused and messed up in their own way. There were 3 people in this play that are damned to the same room in hell: Garcin, Inez and Estelle. Garcin was the first of the three people to be sent to the room because he was shot for being ...moreI found No Exit a very amusing and unusual play. I thought the topic that Satre decided to write about was extremely interesting because I would have never to expect to read a play in which people are sent to hell and they didn’t even know why and they all are so confused and messed up in their own way. There were 3 people in this play that are damned to the same room in hell: Garcin, Inez and Estelle. Garcin was the first of the three people to be sent to the room because he was shot for being a coward in running away in a battle. Garcin was a journalist that was forced into war. Inez, a postal clerk, was the second to be sent there because she was a lesbian and she tried to seduce another woman and then the man released the gas pipe when she fell asleep. Estelle was the final person to arrive; she is a very wealthy housewife who dies of pneumonia. Estelle is very obsessed with her appearance and keeps looking for a mirror The three of them were put together to help each other to confess up their crime and in order to leave the room they all have faith and trust one another. They all finally confessed their biggest sin. Garcin believes that he is sent to hell because he cheated on his wife and he treated her really badly. Inez was sent to the room because she was trying to get on another woman, her cousin’s wife. Estelle was sent to hell because she also cheated on her husband and she killed her own baby. Throughout this whole play, none of them was able to gain each other’s complete faith and trust, except for this one time when Estelle believed in Garcin because she loved him but Inez prevented him from leaving because she was jealous that Estelle, who Inez really loves, was in love with Garcin.
In this playwright, I think the main thing that Satre wants to raise awareness about how the world is not perfect and that society have difficulty accepting certain ideas. This playwright showed that everyone sinned and it also showed that society sees people that do certain actions differently. Over this summer, in my advanced writing class, we talked about what it is to be a transgender person, and I learned that society have trouble accepting them because they do not fir in one category but are in between genders. I thought this play really showed how religion is against lesbian people which can be related directly to society itself. This play taught me that a person can make change by working together as a team and to have faith within each other in order to make it through situations. This book really reminded me of The Inferno because of the way they depicted hell, but this was more of a focus on the sinners rather than the circles of hell.
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About Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre, normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre, was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. He was a leading figure in 20th century French philosophy.

He declined the award of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest ...more

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“Ha! to forget. How childish! I feel you in my bones. Your silence screams in my ears. You may nail your mouth shut, you may cut out your tongue, can you keep yourself from existing? Will you stop your thoughts.” — 76 people liked it

“Man is what he wills himself to be.” — 70 people liked it

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