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No Exit Existentialism

Decent Essays

The drama, No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre, is about three characters, who made ruthless decisions during their time on earth and are now left in hell to torture one another. The anecdote’s setting takes place in hell, where the three characters reveal their horrendous crimes which led to their eternal suffering at the hands of one another. The drama portrays existentialism, which is the idea that the existence of an individual as being free and responsible in determining their own choices whose consequences they must face.
A particular scene from the drama, which defines existentialism effectively is, when Estelle was seeking a mirror. Upon not finding one, Inez volunteered to be her personal mirror. Repeatedly, Inez kept on flirting with Estelle, who in return wanted Garcin’s affection. Meanwhile, Estelle explained that she had six mirrors in her bedroom that she constantly needed to look at to remind herself of her existence. Finally, Estelle allowed Inez to be her mirror. Inez teased Estelle, who worried if they shared the same taste or whether her lipstick was on correctly. …show more content…

If a man does not know what he looks like, how can he be sure he is not someone else? It is our self-image that separates us from "the others." What terrifies us the most is the prospect of that which has no image, like Estelle's vision of the man without a face, the victim of her callousness in life. The absence of an image signifies an absence of identity. And without identity, what becomes of existence? And, in existentialism, without existence, what becomes of

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