How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used the translation by S. Gilbert found in No Exit and Three Other Plays, published by Vintage International in 1989.
Quote #1
GARCIN: But don't forget, my man, I've a good notion of what's coming to me, so don't you boast you've caught me off my guard. I'm facing the situation, facing it. (23)
Garcin is immediately concerned with his persona – he wants to be perceived as a man of courage, not as a coward. He isn’t really facing hell; he just wants to appear that way.
Quote #2
GARCIN: There's no more hope – but it's still "before." We haven't yet begun to suffer.
INEZ: That's so. Well? What's going to happen?
GARCIN: I don't know. I'm waiting. (90-3)
This is part of his problem – Garcin is waiting for something to happen to him instead of taking action himself.
Quote #3
INEZ: Yes, I see. Look here! What' s the point of play-acting, trying to throw dust in each other's eyes? We're all tarred with the same brush. (188)
Because Garcin and Estelle are seeking approval from other people instead of themselves, they stand to gain something in their deception. Inez, however, isn’t trying to fool anybody, because she’s not seeking judgment from anyone else.
Quote #4
ESTELLE: I'm a coward. A coward! [pause] If you knew how I hate you! (340)
Estelle has just confessed her crimes. Which of her actions makes her feel like a coward now?
Quote #5
INEZ: I know. And you're another trap. Do you think they haven't foreknown every word you say? And of course there's a whole nest of pitfalls that we can't see. Everything here's a booby-trap. But what do I care? I'm a pitfall, too. For her, obviously. And perhaps I'll catch her.
GARCIN: You won't catch anything. We're chasing after each other, round and round in a vicious circle, like the horses on a roundabout. That's part of their plan, of course... Drop it, Inez. Open your hands and let go of everything. Or else you'll bring disaster on all three of us.
INEZ: Do I look the sort of person who lets go? (366-8)
Exactly what sort of advice is Garcin giving here? What is Inez supposed to "let go of", and how does he expect that will save them?
Quote #6
ESTELLE: I tell you he was mine. All mine.
INEZ: Yes, he was yours – once. But now – try to make him hear, try to touch him. Olga can touch him, talk to him as much as she likes. That's so, isn't it? She can squeeze his hands, rub herself against him – (386-7)
In Inez’s "Character Analysis," we talk about two different interpretations of her role in No Exit – either as a teacher or as a self-centered sadist. Which is prevalent in this passage here?
Quote #7
GARCIN: Are you going to love me?
ESTELLE: I wonder now!
GARCIN: Will you trust me?
ESTELLE: What a quaint thing to ask! Considering you'll be under my eyes all the time, and I don't think I've much to fear from Inez, so far as you're concerned.
GARCIN: Obviously. I was thinking of another kind of trust. (431-5)
What is Garcin referring to here? What "kind of trust" does he mean?
Quote #8
INEZ: What about your wife, Garcin?
GARCIN: Oh, didn't I tell you? She's dead.
INEZ: Dead?
GARCIN: Yes, she died just now. About two months ago.
INEZ: Of grief?
GARCIN: What else should she die of? (462-7)
Not only does Garcin not feel remorse over the way he treated his wife, he doesn’t even recognize that what he did was wrong in the first place.