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No Exit
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in No Exit, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Human Interaction, Control, and Sense of Self
In No Exit, Jean-Paul Sartre suggests that true misery comes from the human inability to control the nature of one’s own existence. To make this point, he portrays hell as a simple drawing-room that accommodates three recently deceased people—Garcin, Inez, and Estelle. As they acquaint themselves with their new surroundings, they recognize the absence of a torturer, wondering how, exactly, they’ll be punished. After falling into arguments, though, they realize…
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Empathy vs. Selfishness
Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit is a play interested in the interpersonal dynamics of compassion. This is made evident by the fact that Garcin, Inez, and Estelle all end up in hell largely because of how they conducted their romantic affairs and personal relationships on earth. For each of them, love is one-sided, as they think only about what they want, regardless of what this might mean for other people. In hell, though, they’re…
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Self-Deception vs. Acceptance
Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit illustrates how easily human beings deceive themselves. In particular, Garcin struggles to present an accurate representation of himself, claiming that he’s been sent to hell for sticking up for his “principles,” though it soon becomes clear that there are several other (more valid) reasons for his condemnation. In a similar vein, Estelle arrives in hell adamant that there’s been a mistake, refusing to admit that she’s done anything to deserve this…
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