No Exit and Three Other Plays by Jean-Paul Sartre, S. Gilbert (Translator), S. Gilbert (Translator), I. Abel (Translator), I. Abel (Translator)

A summary of Jean Pauls Sartre's 'No Exit'
Sean H, A reviewer, 04/28/2005

“No Exit” by Jean Paul Sartre is a one-act play write about three eternally damned souls. The setting of the story takes place in a room, containing Second-Empire furniture, deep within hell. Throughout the play the three souls torture each other relentlessly. At first none of the characters will admit to the fact that they belong in hell, but soon confess their sins. This play contains a lot of seduction and animosity. The author of this play shows how individuals tend to lie to themselves and to others. The characters in the play do not want to admit their sins to each other or to themselves for that matter. Vanity, desire, and self-righteousness are greatly displayed in this story by the damned souls trapped in the room.

Incredible existentialism
sean (morrissc@muohio.edu), an enlish lit major, 12/09/2004

French philosopher and playwrite Jean-Paul Satre composed these four wonderful plays during the 1940s. His most well known work is 'No Exit' which portrays hell not as Milton or Dante but a room with 2 other people. They torture each other more perfectly than any physicla pain could. Free to leave they all remain to inflict misery upon their 'roommates.' Next is 'The Flies' an existential rendering of 'The Libation Bearers,' the second part of Aeschylus' Oresteia, during which Orestes returns to Argos to avenge his fathers murder by his mother and uncle. I actually was assigned this play for an assignment in a mythology class then finished the rest of the book. 'Dirty Hands' almost follows the bildungsroman form in tracing the deveopment of an intellectual torn between theories and their practical implementation. The final play, 'The respectful Prostitute' is an insightful look into the racism of the south in the United States. All in all the plays are easy to read and make a wonderful introduction into existentialism.

Sartre Uses Southern White Male as Scapegoat
An existential expert, an author, 06/26/2002

'No Exit' is an excellent play, depicting the struggles people have in dealing with the guilt that the Jewish-Christian religion causes people by denying them the right to be people instead of 'objects.' However, Sartre 'overkills' in his play 'The Respectful Prostitute' by stereotyping the Southern White Male as a racist, a bigot, and a liar. Racism and slavery, I might remind the late self-proclaimed Jew Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as his readers,were justified by the documented and historical authority for slavery and Israeli Supremacy: The Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), otherwise known as the Law of God or the Law of Moses. It is the root of the Jewish and Islamic justification for slavery and of the Christian's duty to 'obey his master.'

Respectful?
A reviewer, 23 years old, 09/20/2000

I have just picked up Sartre’s No Exit and Three Other Plays and already I am fascinated. I had heard that his play, ”The Respectful Prostitute” was a strong criticism of American racism and wanted to check it out. Skipping to the very end of the book and reading this play first, I came away with feelings of anger, and praise. Anger because I am an African-American and was hurt by its realism, but I also praise the work for its scathing, although subtle and multi-layered (sophisticated) critique of American racism. Textually, the work was extremely easy to read. Embedded in this “easy” text however is some of the most thought provoking material ranging from classical notions solitude and isolation to gender issues that should keep the feminist talking for years to come. For me, the most interesting and thought provoking portion of the text deals with the homoeroticism (not to be confused with “homosexualism”) that has always been the singular preoccupation in the white male mind with respect to the black male body. The dramatic utilization and subtle working of this topic would have made Freud proud, and Dr. Francis Welsing say, “I told you so!” A must read for anyone interested in portrayals of American racism in the French imagination or just excellent dramatic work.

Also recommended: The wall

'Hell is Other People'
Kristen Patton (108483@carlow.edu), A reviewer, 01/20/2000

Without a doubt the most compelling play is 'No Exit,' in which Sartre gives a disturbing description of hell. This is not the fiery sulphur of Dante's Inferno, but a simple room in which there are only three people. Sartre admirably illustrates his theories of existence and anguish, the master/slave concept, and bad faith.