| No Exit | |
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Cover of the Vintage edition |
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| Written by | Jean-Paul Sartre |
| Characters | Joseph Garcin Inès Serrano Estelle Rigault Valet |
No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out and Dead End. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944, just before the liberation of Paris in World War II.[1]
It is a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity, and is the source of one of Sartre's most famous quotations, l'enfer, c'est les autres ("Hell is other people").[2]
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No Exit is a one-act play for four actors (one of whom, the Valet, appears for only a very limited time) and only one scene.
The play begins with a Valet leading a man named Joseph Garcin into a room that the audience soon realizes is in hell (hell is described as a series of "rooms and passages"). The room has no windows, no mirrors, and only one door. Eventually Garcin is joined by Inès Serrano, and then another woman, Estelle Rigault. After their entry, the Valet leaves and the door is closed and locked. All expect to be tortured, but no torturer arrives. Instead, they are left to probe each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories, gradually realizing that this is their punishment: they are each other's torturers.
At first, the three see events concerning themselves that are happening on Earth, but eventually (as their connection to Earth dwindles and the living move on) they are left with only their own thoughts and the company of the other two. Near the end of the play, Garcin demands he be let out; at his words the door flies open, however, none of the three will leave. This is due partly to the substantial hate and fear of the unknown, but primarily to Garcin's desire for validation from Inès that he is not a coward.
Joseph Garcin – His sins are cowardice and callousness (which caused his young wife to die "of grief" after his execution). He deserted the army during World War II, and he blatantly cheated on his wife – he even brings his affairs home and gets her to make them coffee in bed, without any sympathy. Initially, he hates Inès because she understands his weakness, and lusts after Estelle because he feels that if she treats him as a man he will become manly. However, by the end of the play he understands that because Inès understands the meaning of cowardice and wickedness, only absolution at her hands can redeem him (if indeed redemption is possible).
Inès Serrano – Inès is the second character to enter the room. A lesbian postal clerk, her sin is turning a wife against her husband, twisting the wife's perception of her spouse and the subsequent murder of the man (who is Inès' cousin). Indeed, Inès seems to be the only character who understands the power of opinion, manipulating Estelle's and Garcin's opinions of themselves and of each other throughout the play. She is the only character who is honest about the evil deeds she, Garcin, and Estelle have done. She commonly acknowledges the fact that she is a cruel person.
Estelle Rigault – Estelle is a high-society woman, a blonde who married her husband for his money and had an affair with a younger man. To her, the affair is merely an insignificant fling, whereas her lover becomes emotionally attached to her and she bears an illegitimate child. She drowns the illegitimate child by throwing it into the lake, which drives her lover to commit suicide. Throughout the play she makes advances towards Garcin, seeking to define herself as a woman in relation to a man. Her sins are deceit and murder (which also motivated a suicide). She lusts over "manly men", which Garcin himself strives to be.
Valet – The Valet enters the room with each character, but his only real dialogue is with Garcin. We learn little about him, except that his uncle is the head valet, and that he does not have any eyelids, which links to Garcin because his eyelids are atrophied.
A one-act chamber opera based on the play was created by composer Andy Vores. The production had its world premiere on April 25, 2008 at the Boston Conservatory’s Zack Theatre.[3] Vores' opera premiered in Chicago in October 2009 by Chicago Opera Vanguard.
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