No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. It provides a thorough exploration of the play’s plot, characters and main themes, including freedom and the human condition, as well as existentialism. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 22-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Jean-Paul Sartre
• Presentation of No Exit
• Summary of No Exit
• Character study
  • Garcin
  • Inès
  • Estelle
  • Valet
• Analysis of No Exit
  • Freedom and responsibility
  • Existence with others
  • Existence in front of others
  • Style and language

About No Exit

No Exit is an existentialist play which was first performed in 1944. It is the origin of Sartre’s much-quoted and even more often misunderstood quote “Hell is other people”. It revolves around three people who are locked in a room and forced to live together for the rest of their lives. It does not take them long to come to realise that they see the parts of themselves that they do not like in the others, and this quickly becomes unbearable.

With No Exit, Sartre explores relationships and highlights the absurdity of human life. To do so, he makes great use of many different types of register, including both comedy and tragedy, and highlights the characters’ spontaneity through his varied use of language.

About Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French writer and philosopher who was born in Paris in 1905. He was a very controversial figure due to his unusual views and existentialist theories, not to mention the fact that he declined the Noble Prize after claiming he did not want to be “transformed into an institution”. He was also known for being the companion of well-known French feminist Simone de Beauvoir. He died in Paris in 1980.