No Exit and Three Other Plays | Jean-Paul Sartre

No Exit and Three Other Plays | Jean-Paul Sartre | "The folk of Argos are my folk. I must open their eyes."

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No Exit and Three ...

	No Exit and Three Other Plays Jean-Paul Sartre Vintage, 1989 - 275 pages average customer review:based on 47 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

4 plays about an existential portrayal of Hell, the reworking of the Electra-Orestes story, the conflict of a young intellectual torn between theory and conflict and an arresting attack on American racism.

Beautiful melancholy

Sartre is sometimes given a reputation that far precedes him, as with many Nobel recipients. These plays are a testament against the skeptic's mindset.

"No Exit" is a modern-day interpretation of the antiquated "fire and brimstone" hell we are so accustomed to hearing about. Sartre adroitly picks up on the small idiosyncracies of human behavior and capitalizes on them with his version of hell. Three incompatible personalities are locked in a hot, stuffy hotel room for eternity, unable to get along with one another or reconcile their personal differences. The lights are always a bit too bright, the furniture a bit too stiff, and the wonder at "what lies down the hall" eats at the occupants for eternity. This is a far cry from biblical interpretations of hell, where an individual can mentally will themselves against pain. Instead, Sartre focuses on the interpersonal nature of unhappiness, and gives his spirits "one of those days" for eternity.

"Dirty Hands" is perhaps my favorite piece of literature. It plants its focus on a young intellectual revolutionary intent on assassinating a corrupt party leader. As he grows closer to Hoederer, the man he is sent to kill, he comes to realize that pure intellectual theories will always become muddied in the waters of reality.

"The Respectful Prostitute" depicts a young woman, a prostitute, who spends the night with a man who turns out to be a politician. The man completes his sordid mission, but the next morning scorns the woman. An lesson in objectivity and the two-faced nature of those who tend to preach loudly.

"The Flies" is set in Ancient Greece, but possesses Sartre's aptitude for human behavior. Just as good as all the others, though not as indicative of how humans behave.

These are all plays, making them quite easy to read. The characters are not hard to keep straight. The ease of reading doesn't detract from their literary quality. These four plays are elegant simplicity at its finest.

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"The folk of Argos are my folk. I must open their eyes."

I have read this little collection countless times over the years. I have seen Huit Clos (No Exit) performed several times (generally poorly) but it has never quite lived up to the power that I find in the written version. I realize that this is unusual for a play, and may reflect a fault in Sartre's work rather than a strength.

It is important to remember, however, that Sartre's work is always more about the ideas behind it than it is about the form he is using. Sartre wrote novels, plays, essays, and criticism during his long career. Through it all, he was a philosopher-- struggling with the notion of freedom and indifference.

People (particularly students) tend to stop with No Exit, neglecting its less famous cousins. This is a shame, as both The Flies and Dirty Hands are fascinating pieces. Particularly if you have an interest in the Oresteia then The Flies is a wonderful interpretation.

A must read book.

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Fabulous plays!

This book is a wonderful collection of plays written by the brilliant intellect of Sartre. It is an essential reading for the philosopher at heart.

"Hell is other people".......

Estelle, Inez and Garcin expected to face all manner of torture in hell, but never expected hell to be a regular room, where these three extremely different people are bound together for eternity. During the time in which the characters explore the possibility of coexisting together, shocking confessions about the reasons that lead these characters to their death and subsequently to hell are revealed.

Inez, who is a homosexual woman, is the only character that is strong enough to practice her choice even after death. Inez finds her self stuck in an after life with a man she despises, and a woman who doesn't reciprocate her desire.

Estelle, a delusional superficial woman who interestingly can't blink, requires the presence of a man to validate her femininity or existence. Estelle is stuck between a man that she can't have, while Inez is watching, and a woman that she doesn't like.

Garcin, an immoral villain who cheated on his wife and mistreated her, needs his being and mistakes validated. Garcin is stuck between the lying selfish Estell and the honest opinionated Inez who has no interest in him. Garcin is the only character who gets a chance to leave the room but can't make a free choice to do so. He arrives at the famous conclusion:" Hell is other people".

This great story was obviously intended for a live audience. In addition to each character watching the other characters, each being watched by God, every body is being watched by the audience. Sartre cleverly used the awkward feeling of being watched all the time to enhance his story. He probably wanted to create an analogy between this room and the fact of living in Paris under German occupation during Second World War.

Please don't stop at "no exit". "The Flies", and "Dirty Hands" are great material that simply didn't get the same fame as "No Exit".

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There Is No Exit

Legendary French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre invites his readers to truly get in touch with what it means to be alive in this world. With the famous phrase "Hell is other people," Sartre is able to encapsulate the vast extent of social anxieties that necessarily exist among all people. Readers beware, if you're not ready to learn about the true depths of human self-perception, then do not open this book.

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