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
INEZ: Mere chance? Then it's by chance this room is furnished as we see it. It's an accident that the sofa on the right is a livid green, and that one on the left's wine-red. Mere chance? Well, just try to shift the sofas and you'll see the difference quick enough. And that statue on the mantelpiece, do you think it's there by accident? And what about the heat here? How about that? I tell you they've thought it all out. Down to the last detail. Nothing was left to chance. This room was all set for us. (160)
Is Inez right? Are these specific furnishings essential to Inez, Garcin, and Estelle? Is the specific organization of the room essential to the play? If so, why?
Quote #2
ESTELLE: I'm – quite recent. Yesterday. As a matter of act, the ceremony's not quite over. [Her tone is natural enough, but she seems to be seeing what she describes.] The wind's blowing my sister's veil all over the place. She's trying her best to cry. Come, dear! Make another effort. That's better. Two tears, two little tears are twinkling under the black veil. Oh dear! What a sight Olga looks this morning! She's holding my sister's arm, helping her along. (112)
This is a great example of the set of "rules" Sartre establishes regarding his version of hell. Estelle is the first character to look back and witness a scene on earth, and these stage directions let us know how such a vision "works" in this world.
Quote #3
GARCIN: That woman was a born martyr, you know; a victim by vocation. (272)
Garcin uses this description twice in describing his wife. Not only is avoiding the personal responsibility he should take for the way he treated her, but he’s also confining her to a specific role and purpose - that of victim - rather than seeing her as a whole person.
Quote #4
ESTELLE: He was leaning over the balcony and he saw the rings spreading on the water –
GARCIN: Yes? And then?
ESTELLE: That's all. I came back to Paris – and he did as he wished.
GARCIN: You mean he blew his brains out?
ESTELLE: It was absurd of him, really, my husband never suspected anything. [A pause.] Oh, how I loathe you! (334-8)
Who is Estelle addressing when she says "How I loathe you?" Inez? Garcin? Her husband? Her lover?
Quote #5
INEZ: There’s no need to look like a hanging judge.
GARCIN: A hanging judge? [He glances around him] I'd give a lot to be able to see myself in a glass. (341-2)
Garcin has been characterized by Inez – as a judge – and so needs to confirm her point of view by looking at himself in the mirror. He wants to know if he really looks like a judge so he can decide if he really is one. Bad faith? Yes indeed.
Quote #6
ESTELLE: Olga, I can see you. No, she doesn't care, she's dancing through my gaze. (390)
Interesting! Because the living don’t know that the dead are watching them, and the dead have no control over the living. Remember from "the look" and objectification in "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory" that a person’s freedom is threatened when they are conscious of another person present and watching them. If they’re not aware of the observer, there is no threat.
Quote #7
INEZ: Oh, I don't count? Is that what you think? But, my poor little fallen nestling, you've been sheltering in my heart for ages, though you didn't realize it. Don't be afraid; I'll keep looking at you for ever and ever, without a flutter of my eyelids, and you'll live in my gaze like a mote in a sunbeam. (396)
This passage sends us back to Garcin’s initial observation that the valet doesn’t blink. The lack of respite he discussed earlier doesn’t refer to the eyes of the observer, rather to the observed who suffers under his unblinking gaze.
Quote #8
GARCIN: Anything, anything would be better than this agony of mind, this creeping pain that gnaws and fumbles and caresses one and never hurts quite enough. Now will you open? [The door flies open: a long silence]
INEZ: Well, Garcin? You're free to go.
GARCIN: [Meditatively] Now I wonder why that door opened.
INEZ: What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go.
GARCIN: I shall not go. (500-4)
Shortly after this Garcin explains why he’s decided to stay – to convince Inez of his courage. But how is it he changed his mind in the two seconds between his banging on the door and it flying open? Could it be he has some other motive for remaining in hell?