No Exit Summary & Analysis

As the valet shows Garcin what his existence will be like in hell, Garcin subtly deceives himself. As if trying to trick himself into liking his new environment, he suggests that he’ll most likely “get used to” living here, effectively ignoring the fact that this room has been specifically designed to torment him. Rather than accepting that what he sees is a manifestation of torture, he makes casual remarks about his surroundings. At the same time, Garcin acknowledges that he didn’t “expect” hell to be furnished with the lavish style of a Second Empire drawing-room, a comment that reveals the deluded notion that humans can have any idea what it’s like in the afterlife. In this opening, Sartre shows the audience the nature of human ignorance, demonstrating just how adept people like Garcin are at denying unfavorable circumstances.

Garcin’s assertion that he’s “facing the situation” is another indication that he is eager to deceive himself regarding the nature of his new environment. Rather than simply giving himself over to the experience of being in hell (since he has no control over it anyway), he takes pride in his apparent ability to withstand what he has coming. The problem with this logic, however, is that he doesn’t know what’s coming. Indeed, he hasn’t even discerned the true nature of his torture yet, but he has already convinced himself that he fully grasps what’s going to happen to him. In turn, the audience sees just how desperate he is to feel in control of his situation, even when control is impossible.

Once again, Garcin reveals his desire to be in control of his existence, ultimately tricking himself into believing that he’s handling this “situation” as best he can. In reality, of course, he doesn’t yet know anything about the nature of his new circumstances, though it’s worth noting that this slowly begins to change as he learns that he’ll never sleep again. When he worries about never having a break from his “own company,” he implicitly acknowledges that having to reckon with his own sense of self is a torturous activity. All the same, he doesn’t seem to fully grasp that this existential unrest will factor heavily into his misery in hell.

After learning that he’ll be unable to sleep in hell, Garcin immediately wonders if there’s some way to turn off the lights. The fact that he has this thought is worth noting, since it suggests that he conceives of sight and perspective as somehow linked to selfhood. After all, his main concern is that he won’t be able to “endure [his] own company” without sleeping, and although turning off the lights wouldn’t necessarily enable him to suddenly ignore his own consciousness, he seems to think it would. This aligns with Sartre’s philosophical ideas regarding the human “gaze,” as outlined in his text Being and Nothingness, in which he argues that other people’s perspectives fundamentally alter a person’s sense of self and subjectivity. Of course, Garcin still thinks he’ll be spending eternity alone, so his desire to turn off the lights is quite strange, as if he thinks his own “gaze” will turn on itself and torment him. This fear of the self is worth keeping in mind as the play progresses, since it brings itself to bear on the way Sartre portrays the nuances of human interaction.

In this moment, Garcin continues his attempt to convince himself that he’s in a better situation than he’s actually in. His questions about the bell illustrate his desire to think of his stay in the drawing-room as some sort of luxury hotel visit. In reality, though, he knows he’s in hell, and yet he still acts as if the valet will really accommodate his every need. Through this interaction, the audience sees how unwilling he is to accept the true nature of his new environment.

Unlike Garcin, Inez seems less likely to delude herself regarding the nature of her surroundings. Of course, she hasn’t spoken yet, but even her decision to not ask the valet any questions suggests that she has no desire to deceive herself by acting like she has just arrived in a fancy hotel. Rather than asking the valet pointless questions about the drawing-room, she seemingly accepts that there’s nothing to do but surrender to whatever’s going to happen.

Inez and Garcin’s relationship begins oddly, with Inez thinking that he’s supposed to torture her—an idea that isn’t quite as absurd as it might seem. Still, he quickly dispels this notion, laughing at the idea of himself as anything but empathetic and kind. In contrast, Inez seems to have embraced her own coldness, as she says that she doesn’t care whether or not she’s separated from Florence. Considering that she thinks being separated from Florence is supposed to be a torture method, it follows that Florence must have been a meaningful person in her life. And yet, she doesn’t hesitate to call her a “tiresome little fool,” ultimately suggesting that Inez is focused first and foremost on herself, not on the people with whom she’s supposedly close.

Inez’s cryptic assertion that she knows what torturers look like because she has “watched [her] face” in the mirror suggests that she herself has tormented people. This more or less aligns with her later remark that she’s “not polite.” Furthermore, her disappointment regarding the idea of Garcin’s constant presence once again indicates that she cares first and foremost about herself. This, at least, matches Garcin’s feeling that he’d “rather be alone,” though it’s worth noting that this sentiment clashes somewhat with his previous complaint that he won’t be able to “endure [his] own company.” Rather than making it easier for him to withstand himself, Inez’s presence seemingly increases the likelihood that he will be discontented in the drawing-room, an idea that foreshadows Sartre’s belief that human interaction can exacerbate a person’s existential insecurities.

When Inez asks Garcin to stop forcing “the sight of [his] fear” on her, she tries to control the way they interact, not wanting to be influenced by what he’s feeling. This desire to control the details of even their nonverbal communication illustrates Sartre’s belief that the mere presence of others can significantly alter a person’s perspective. Not wanting to be afraid of her circumstances, Inez resents Garcin for making “grotesque” faces that show his fear. But the fact that these faces are involuntary indicates that Inez will never be able to fully control the way Garcin sees their shared situation, since even he can’t seem to get ahold of himself. In turn, he will always color the nature of her existence, regardless of what he or she does to try and stop this.

It’s clear Estelle is afraid of encountering someone from her past, since she reacts so strongly when she thinks Garcin is that person. By ordering him not to “look up,” she reveals her unwillingness to accept her situation in hell. Of course, this is only a false alarm, but her attempt to avoid seeing this unspecified person from her past suggests that she thinks she has the power to keep horror at bay. Once again, then, the audience sees how easily humans deceive themselves, as Estelle refuses to acknowledge that she will have no say over the nature of her torture in hell.

It doesn’t take long for Sartre to establish that Estelle is rather self-obsessed. Not only does she put herself before others, but she also focuses on trivial things, like whether or not her dress matches the furniture. This only serves as yet another indication that she—like Garcin—doesn’t fully grasp the implications of the fact that she’s in hell, where she’s supposed to be tortured for eternity. Rather than acknowledging that superficial aesthetic details don’t matter in the context of eternal suffering, she asks Garcin to give up his sofa, fixating on her looks as a way of controlling her surroundings and denying the true gravity of her situation.

Estelle’s narration of her own funeral demonstrates that she’s still quite connected to the real world. As she considers the ways in which her loved ones mourn her death, the audience sees how important it is for her to feel missed. What’s more, her obsession with what people think of her distracts her from her present situation, allowing her to more or less ignore the fact that she’s in hell.  

Estelle’s harsh reaction to the word “dead” underlines her desire to deny the true nature of her new existence. Rather than acknowledging that she and her companions have died, she tries to deceive herself by changing the way she and the others refer to themselves. On another note, Garcin’s remarks about his wife are worth considering, since he admits that she used to get on his “nerves.” What upsets him, it seems, is that she has “big tragic eyes,” suggesting that her “martyred look” makes him feel guilty about something, though it’s not yet clear what, exactly, this might be. All the same, it’s obvious that he feels little empathy for his wife, focusing only on the fact that her sadness makes him feel bad. 

When Inez says that her life “tidied itself up nicely of its own accord,” Sartre implies that she—unlike the others—has accepted her own death. While Garcin and Estelle continue to muse about their past existences, Inez acknowledges that her life is over (“sealed up”), though she still narrates what has happened to her bedroom in the wake of her death. All the same, it’s evident that she’s more willing than her companions to embrace her new circumstances, since Garcin and Estelle are still trying to distract themselves from their surroundings.

Estelle reveals her naivety when she says that she expected to be grouped together with “old friends” and “relatives.” Although she knows she’s in hell, she nevertheless assumes that she’ll have the luxury of being with close acquaintances, as if she has completely forgotten that people are supposed to suffer in hell. Similarly, Garcin suggests that everything in hell is random, trying to convince himself that his new environment hasn’t been specifically tailored to ensure his misery. Once again, Inez remains the only person in the drawing-room who’s willing to acknowledge the true nature of hell, which is why she tells her companions that nothing has been “left to chance,” trying to get them to stop deceiving themselves about why they’ve been placed here.

When Estelle says that she can’t “bear the idea” of someone expecting something from her, she exemplifies Sartre’s idea that others can significantly influence the way a person experiences life. The mere idea that someone might want something from her feels like a challenge to Estelle, making her want to assert her agency by doing “just the opposite.” Furthermore, her unwillingness to admit why she’s in hell once again illustrates her tendency to deceive herself, as she makes the absurd claim that there must have been “some ghastly mistake.” Rather than owning up to and accepting her own moral failures, she acts like she doesn’t deserve to be in hell at all—a technique that helps her cope with her situation, though it’s clearly an unsustainable method of maintaining her composure, since she’ll eventually have to admit that she’s in hell for a reason. 

Estelle has just insisted that she hasn’t done anything wrong, even suggesting that she’s been placed in hell by mistake. And yet, she casually mentions in this moment that she cheated on her husband. Although this in and of itself might not necessarily mean that she deserves eternal damnation, it is—at the very least—a hint that she isn’t as innocent as she’d like to think. After all, having an affair in this circumstance suggests that she thinks primarily about her own desires, failing to consider her husband’s happiness. In this way, it becomes clear that she doesn’t have the capacity to recognize her own shortcomings, so she brings up her affair without stopping to consider its implications about her moral compass.

In the same way that Estelle is unwilling to admit her own moral shortcomings, Garcin appears ready and willing to think of himself as a “hero” or martyr, regardless of whether or not this is accurate. Granted, Sartre has yet to clarify the circumstances surrounding Garcin’s death, but it seems likely that his interpretation of what happened is inaccurate, given that he’s in hell. After all, people don’t simply go to hell for no reason, which is why Inez—the only person willing to acknowledge this fact—bitterly mocks her companions for presenting themselves as innocent.

Inez’s willingness to be frank about her situation enables her to see clearly. While Estelle and Garcin try to trick themselves into thinking that they don’t deserve to be in hell, Inez acknowledges not only that her condemnation makes sense, but also that there’s an underlying logic to the nature of the group’s collective damnation. Observing how aggressively she and the others argue, it dawns on her that they’ve been placed in the drawing-room specifically for this reason: they don’t get along, and so they’re fated to torture each other simply by coexisting.

By suggesting that he and his companions should avoid one another, Garcin tries to evade torture. If he and the others are destined to torment one another, he reasons, they should simply keep to themselves, thereby circumventing any misery that might come their way. This, however, is yet another form of self-deception, as Garcin makes the grand assumption that he has enough power to control the nature of his own suffering. Although it might be the case that he and his fellow hell-dwellers could avoid torturing each other simply by ignoring one another, it seems unlikely that they’ll be able to sustain this lack of communication. After all, it seems clear by now that they’ve been grouped together because of their personalities, which will most likely drive them to each other time and again, making it impossible to escape their torturous interpersonal dynamic.

In this portion of No Exit, Sartre employs his ideas about the human “gaze,” which he explores at length in his philosophical text Being and Nothingness. According to Sartre, another person’s gaze threatens any individual’s sense of self. He argues that an individual’s realization that someone else might see her a certain way can be troubling because it suggests that she isn’t in total control of her own existence. As Estelle laments the lack of mirrors in the drawing-room, it becomes clear that she feels uncomfortable because she can’t reassert her own conception of herself. The fact that Inez and Garcin might see her in ways that go against the way she thinks of herself is unbearable, so she wants to find a way to look at herself, thinking that doing so would reestablish her agency over her own identity. 

Whereas Estelle loathes the idea of giving herself over to others (by letting them look at her when she can’t look at herself), Inez embraces the idea of surrendering herself to Estelle. This, however, is because she wants to maintain her agency, since choosing to “suffer” at Estelle’s “pretty hands” is still a decision. In this sense, Inez agrees to put herself at Estelle’s mercy for the same reason that Estelle wants to see a reflection of herself—they both want to maintain a modicum of control over their existences.

When Estelle says that her reflection in regular mirrors always looked back at her as if she had “tamed” it, she proves her desire to control her own sense of self. By looking at her reflection, she was always able to reaffirm who she was and align this with who she wanted to be. Now, though, the only reflection she can find is in Inez’s eyes, and though this gives her an opportunity to see herself, she can’t ignore the fact that Inez is watching her. This, in turn, makes it impossible to deny the influence of Inez’s gaze, as Estelle realizes that anything she does might mean something different than she intends to Inez. If she smiles, she says, that smile might “become” something different in Inez’s mind. Consequently, she finds no relief looking at her reflection in Inez’s eyes.

Although Inez offers to let Estelle look into her eyes as a way of being nice, in this moment she hints at the power she has over her new acquaintance. Since Estelle is already so concerned about her looks, Inez’s comment that she might stop looking at her is actually something of a threat—after all, if Estelle attaches so much existential importance to her image, then what will happen if nobody (including herself) looks at her? As this idea emerges, Sartre begins to demonstrate more clearly how these characters will torture each other, suggesting that their various hang-ups and neuroses are at odds with one another. 

When Estelle says she wishes Garcin would notice her, she agitates Inez. In doing so, she sets off a chain reaction, since Inez yells at Garcin, furious with him because he’s stealing Estelle’s attention without even trying. In this way, the group dynamic becomes toxic, since each character is unable to get what he or she wants from the others.

It’s now quite obvious that Inez was right when she guessed that she, Garcin, and Estelle are supposed to torture each other. When Garcin says that he wants to listen to Gomez talk about him instead of paying attention to Estelle, the audience sees how interested he is in how others see him. However, only some people interest him, since he clearly doesn’t care about Estelle’s opinion. Rather, he disregards her and, in doing so, causes her to lash out at Inez, who subsequently turns her anger back on Garcin. In this manner, they all torture each other in a cyclical, never-ending fashion, each one caught up in selfish motivations.

Once again, Inez expresses her desire to “choose” the nature of her suffering, this time wanting to confront Garcin head-on, since she sees him as her primary enemy. It’s also worth noting how utterly incapable these three people are of not interacting with one another. Despite their efforts to keep to themselves, they have found their way into an ongoing conflict, ultimately illustrating the strength of the human impulse to communicate and interact—even when those connections are toxic.

Again, Garcin tries to avoid suffering in hell. Instead of keeping to themselves, he suggests that he and his companions share their stories, no doubt thinking that this will help them avoid tormenting each other. According to this logic, knowing why Estelle and Inez have been sent to hell will enable him to sidestep any topic that might upset them. At first glance, this might seem like a good idea, but it’s worth acknowledging that this might actually be the worst thing Garcin and his companions could possibly do. Considering that they’ve been placed in hell to torture one another, it’s unlikely that talking about sensitive issues will lead to anything but misery, since knowing the intimate details of each other’s lives might simply fuel their arguments. Still, Garcin likes to think that he has control over his environment, and so he insists that treating one another with empathy will save the hell-dwellers from “disaster.”

Both Garcin and Inez are seemingly in hell because of their lack of empathy for others. Garcin was cruel and heartless in his marriage, not caring whether or not his wife knew about his affairs. Inez, for her part, knowingly seduced her cousin’s wife, paying no thought to her cousin’s feelings. Both of these decisions denote a failure to show compassion—a moral deficiency that brings itself to bear on the interpersonal dynamic in the drawing-room. Having lived selfish lives, Garcin and Inez now depend upon each other to treat one another kindly, but it’s unlikely that either of them will be able to show enough empathy to avoid hurting the other. It’s also notable that Inez describes her transgression in terms of forcing Florence to see the world differently, since this uncontrollable change in perspective and sense of self seems to be exactly what Estelle fears.

Inez’s reason for being in hell is somewhat complicated. Although it’s true that it was selfish of her to seduce her cousin’s wife, this in and of itself doesn’t necessarily make her fit for eternal damnation. In this moment, though, she clarifies the nature of her cruelty, saying that “making people suffer” is an integral part of her life. In fact, she says she can’t even live without inflicting emotional harm on others, which is exactly what she did to Florence and her cousin. “When I’m alone I flicker out,” she says, suggesting that she needs someone to pine over her in order to feel existentially grounded. This, it seems, is why she wants Estelle to love her—in the same way that Estelle wants Garcin to notice her, Inez wants Estelle’s romantic attention, since this would help her affirm who she is. In other words, Inez defines herself according to how her love interests feel about her.

When Garcin and Inez team up to convince Estelle to tell them her story, it’s overwhelmingly clear that the group has already started torturing one another. This is especially obvious when Garcin repeats, “Because of you,” as if he’s actively trying to upset her—and, in truth, he is trying to upset her, thinking that she’ll only tell her story if he and Inez force her to do so. This is somewhat ironic, since Garcin’s original reason for wanting everyone to tell their respective stories was so that they could avoid torturing each other. Now, though, he finds himself torturing Estelle in the hopes of learning how to not torture her—an absurd and illogical idea.

Pushed to the edge by Garcin and Inez, Estelle finally tells her story, revealing the real reason she’s been sent to hell. The fact that she’s so hesitant to tell this tale suggests that she feels guilty about what she did. At the same time, though, she maintains a certain kind of selfishness, as evidenced by her remark that it was “absurd” of Roger to shoot himself. “My husband never suspected anything,” she says, failing to see that Roger didn’t kill himself because he worried her husband would find out about their relationship. Rather, he killed himself because she murdered their newborn child. However, Estelle is too preoccupied satisfying her own wants and needs to recognize that this is what upset Roger so much.

Now that Garcin and his companions have all revealed why they’ve been sent to hell, they find themselves in worse shape than before. At first, they were just testy with one another, but now Estelle deeply resents her companions for forcing her to relive a difficult period of her life. As her anger takes shape, she directs it solely at Inez, though Garcin was the one who insisted that everyone should tell their stories. The fact that she takes her anger out on Inez perfectly demonstrates the strange relational dynamic of the drawing-room, since it illustrates Estelle’s fondness for Garcin. In turn, this fondness upsets Inez, who takes out her aggression on Garcin. Once again, then, the audience sees why these three people are perfectly fated to be each other’s torturers. 

By telling Inez that he and Estelle “feel a little tug” if she even lifts her hand, Garcin emphasizes that her actions and decisions will affect everyone in the room. Although Inez might not want to band together with Garcin and Estelle, the group depends upon her to do so. If she doesn’t, Garcin insists, none of them will be able to avoid misery. Of course, it’s not clear whether or not they would be able to avoid misery even if they were able to show each other compassion, but this is perhaps exactly Sartre’s point—these three people will never manage to coexist happily, no matter what they do. Consequently, their failure to relate to each other in a positive manner forms the basis of their hellish circumstances.

Unlike Garcin, Inez has embraced the fact that she’s in hell, clearly believing that there’s nothing she can do to change her circumstances. In turn, she allows herself to give up any effort to be good, welcoming the idea that she’s “rotten to the core.” With reckless abandon, then, she admires Estelle even though she knows that doing so will only cause her pain. Once again, then, she asserts a small amount of control, ultimately choosing the nature of her own torment by accepting and welcoming it.

Again, Inez shows Garcin that she doesn’t care about what’s going to happen to her. This is because she has accepted that there’s nothing she can do to avoid torment. Along with this attitude comes a desire to antagonize Garcin, since he is the only thing (according to Inez) standing between her and Estelle. As a result, she tells him that she’s going to get Estelle to see Garcin in the same way that she, Inez, sees him. This will ruin his chances of ever being happy with Estelle, since he’ll know that Estelle is watching him scornfully. In this sense, Inez uses the idea of perspective to bring Garcin down with her, altering the way he experiences his existence simply by giving him alternative and malicious views of himself.

When Garcin talks about feeling “pity” for Inez, he’s referring to the fact that the only way for any of them to avoid torturing one another is by behaving empathetically. Because Inez is uninterested in this, though, there’s nothing he can do, which is why he eventually retreats. However, he hasn’t quite given up yet, since his rejection of Estelle is an attempt to avoid trouble with Inez. Knowing that Inez will actively make his existence more difficult if she sees him courting Estelle, he urges Estelle to seek attention from her instead of him. Estelle, for her part, is too busy thinking only about what she wants, a mindset emphasized by her sudden feeling that Peter—who was clearly not that significant to her when she was alive—should “belong” to her. 

Having lost all connection to the earth and the people who loved her, Estelle is especially eager to gain Garcin’s love. Once again, though, he tells her to appeal to Inez, knowing that nothing but trouble will arise if he and Estelle become overly friendly, since Inez will surely hold it against him if they become romantic. In this way, the audience sees how treacherous this relational dynamic has become—no matter what happens, at least one of the hell-dwellers will be unhappy.

In this moment, the audience understands the extent to which the trio is doomed. Even if Garcin ignores Estelle, Inez will still take out her anger on him, since Estelle responds to his lack of attention by rebuking Inez. As a result, it’s futile for Garcin to continue ignoring Estelle, which is why he finally decides to oblige her. Unsurprisingly, Inez is even more angry about this, and when she says, “Under my eyes?” she emphasizes the fact that she’s watching, wanting to make sure Garcin feels the effect of her scornful gaze.

Garcin’s decision to have sex with Estelle doesn’t come from a place of passion. Instead, he simply resigns himself to the task, realizing that she won’t stop pursuing him and that Inez won’t stop resenting him for this. No matter what he does, then, he will feel Inez’s wrath, so he might as well make Estelle happy. As he tries to give her attention, though, he finds himself distracted by his overwhelming need to know what others think about him. Tuning Estelle out, he tries to listen to what Gomez is saying about him, an attempt that further solidifies how much he cares about other people’s opinions and can’t behave empathetically even to those who are right in front of him.

Estelle makes an astute observation when she says that Garcin must have a guilty conscience. He has just asked her to “trust” him, apparently wanting to rely on her to assure him that his idea of himself is accurate. This, she notes, suggests that he’s desperate to confirm his sense of self, which in turn suggests that he’s insecure about something. Hearing this, he begins to tell the real story of his death, which is obviously what he feels guilty about.

By asking Estelle to assure him that he isn’t a “coward,” Garcin effectively asks her to help him deceive himself. It’s rather apparent that he knows he acted like a coward by running from the war, but he still wants to trick himself into thinking otherwise. As he struggles to do this, he enlists Estelle’s help, wanting to control the way she sees him, since this will profoundly affect the way he sees himself. If he can get her to say that he’s not a coward, he thinks, he’ll be able to make peace with himself.

When Garcin takes an honest look at the nature of his death, he can no longer convince himself that he faced the firing squad courageously. This, it seems, is why he needs Estelle to tell him that he’s not a coward—otherwise, he’ll be forced to truly admit his shortcomings.

The depth of Garcin’s selfishness comes to the forefront of the play when he casually mentions his wife’s death. Rather than mourning her, he continues to fixate on what people like Gomez think of him. In addition, Estelle tries to soothe him by pointing out that the people who think he’s a coward will soon die, but this isn’t an effective way of comforting him because it doesn’t do anything to help him think of himself in a positive light. Garcin wants to see himself as a courageous and principled man, so it gives him no relief to hear Estelle say that people will forget about his cowardliness, since this sentiment acknowledges that he is indeed a coward.

Once again, the interpersonal dynamic in the drawing-room is tense and fated for misery. Just when Garcin manages to feel good by enlisting Estelle to help him see himself he’s an admirable person, Inez ruins the illusion. This, of course, is because she doesn’t want him to get close to Estelle. Furthermore, Estelle’s assertion that she would “love [him] just the same” if he were a coward is worth noting, since it will most likely cause Garcin to discount her perspective. After all, she has ruined any sense of objectivity by saying this, meaning that Garcin can no longer rely on her to provide an accurate account of his character. In turn, he can’t use her to deceive himself anymore.

Sartre accentuates the toxic relational dynamics between Garcin, Estelle, and Inez in this moment, as each one behaves in a way that torments the others. After realizing that Estelle won’t be able to help him solidify his sense of self, Garcin decides to break out of the drawing-room. As a result, Estelle is distraught, and her desperate need to be with him only exacerbates Inez’s feelings, causing her to redouble her efforts to pursue Estelle. As chaos mounts, then, Sartre illustrates the cyclical and never-ending misery of this unfortunate group of people.

Garcin’s willingness to endure physical pain instead of this “agony of mind” underscores just how torturous it is for him to exist in a relational environment in which nobody will help him deceive himself. Tormented by the notion that he’s a coward, he craves any way to forget about the fact that he died dishonorably. This is perhaps why he would welcome physical torture, which would most likely take his mind off his shortcomings. When the door swings open, though, he stops and reconsiders, most likely realizing that he’ll never be able to cease thinking about whether or not he’s a coward. Now that he’s started being honest with himself (or almost honest) about his true nature, he desperately needs to find someone who will put him at ease once more. Since it’s unlikely that he’d receive this kind of reassurance during the act of physical torture, he decides to stay in the drawing-room. Again, his behavior suggests that meaningful existence depends on connections with others, even if those relationships only create pain.

For Garcin, leaving the drawing-room would be like giving up all control over his self-image. If he left, Inez would think of him as a coward forever, just like Gomez and his coworkers. If he stays, though, he can try to convince her otherwise, thereby manipulating the way she sees him and, thus, the way he conceives of himself. He no longer cares what Estelle thinks because she will tell him anything he wants to hear, which is why he turns his attention to Inez, thinking that winning her favor will prove his worth. 

During this exchange, Inez sets forth one of Sartre’s most important ideas regarding Existentialism (as outlined in his essay Being and Nothingness). When she says that “it’s what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one’s made of,” Inez articulates the existentialist idea that no human is born with essential (nonphysical) traits. Nobody, Sartre believes, is born fundamentally good or fundamentally bad. Instead, it’s what a person does throughout life that determines whether or not he or she is good. This is an important point when it comes to Garcin’s story, since he wants to believe that he was misjudged because of one action, which he argues didn’t represent the way he lived his life. If actions are all that matter, though, then his decision to run from danger makes him a coward. 

When Inez says that Garcin is a coward simply because she “wish[es] it,” she acknowledges that he defines himself according to the way others see him. Knowing how much importance he places on her opinion of him, she makes it clear that he is at her “mercy,” since she can so profoundly alter his sense of self just using thoughts and words. At the same time, though, she is also at Garcin’s “mercy” because of her attraction to Estelle (and because of Estelle’s attraction to Garcin). At a standoff, then, Garcin and Inez torture each other by behaving in the exact way that will most hurt the other person.

The line “Hell is—other people!” is one of Sartre’s most famous ideas. Interestingly enough, though, the phrase itself isn’t as simple as it might seem. Although it appears that Garcin is cursing his companions because they torment him (which, of course, is true), what he’s really cursing is the fact that his interactions with “other people” rattle his existential insecurity. That is, nothing he can say or do will ever help him control the way people see him, and this upends his sense of self. Consequently, he is the one to torment himself, and this torment simply manifests itself through his interactions with others. Additionally, it’s worth noting that Sartre subtly acknowledges the presence of the audience when Garcin says that he feels “all those eyes intent” upon him. Given that No Exit examines the effect of the human gaze on an individual, it makes sense that Sartre would eventually recognize that multiple people are staring at the characters onstage, a fact that reflects and amplifies Garcin’s discomfort about encountering other people’s perspectives.

The only form of relief that the characters experience throughout the entire play comes when Inez finally convinces Estelle and Garcin to fully accept their circumstances. After Estelle stabs Inez and fails to kill her, she’s forced to admit that she and her companions are already dead and that this will always be the case. As a result, she gives herself over to the sad absurdity of her situation, joining her fellow hell-dwellers in laughter. In this way, Sartre suggests that even people with terrible fates ahead of them should accept the things they can’t change, since this kind of acceptance might lend them at least a moment of gaiety in an otherwise endless deluge of misery. Furthermore, if the trio’s deranged laughter isn’t enough of an indication that they’ve finally accepted their wretched destiny, Garcin’s final remark confirms that he now understands he’s fated to argue with Inez and evade Estelle for all of eternity—but rather than rejecting this, he finally embraces the inevitability of his everlasting torment, saying, “Let’s get on with it.”