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Jean Paul Sartre No Exit Essay

622 Words3 Pages

In No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre sets a scene with three characters who are placed together in a windowless room in Hell where they are unable to escape from or communicate with anyone outside of the confines. Being placed in a situation where they have no control, yet fully in control of their own behavior, philosophies of existentialism are cornerstones to understanding the metaphorical and symbolic themes of No Exit. Acting as if one has no control over a situation, despite having full control over their ability to choose, is an example of the existential philosophy Bad Faith, that splits the characters into antagonizers or victims. All of the characters display some Bad Faith throughout the play, but Estelle, a woman in love with her reflection, palpably acts in Bad Faith numerous times. …show more content…

Rather than weighing the options or thinking things through, one would say that they only had one option. An example of giving up control is when Estelle was talking about the coincidence that their arrangements in Hell were all planned and the expectations of their torture. “I never could bear the idea of anyone’s expecting something from me. It always made me want to do just the opposite,” (Sartre, Pg 8) was Estelle’s version of giving up her duty and doing something of the opposite. If Estelle were told to move the furniture in the room, she would probably pretend as if she could not or that there is no way to re arrange the furniture in a way that pleases her. This existentialist philosophy is also presented in other characters and how they dealt with their past life on

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