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: So it comes to this; one doesn't need rest. Why bother about sleep if one isn't sleepy? That stands to reason, doesn't it? Wait a minute, there's a snag somewhere; something disagreeable. Why, now, should it be disagreeable? ...Ah, I see; it's life without a break. (27)
More importantly, it’s life without solitude. Never sleeping means one is never alone…
Quote #2
GARCIN: You see, I'm fond of teasing, it's a second nature with me – and I'm used to teasing myself. Plaguing myself, if you prefer; I don't tease nicely. But I can't go on doing that without a break. (31)
This line is strikingly similar to Inez’s later claim that she is "like a live coal" kept alive "in other people’s hearts." Garcin, too, needs to torment other people to survive.
Quote #3
[Valet goes out.] [Garcin refrains from looking at Inez.] (64)
This is one example of Garcin’s accommodating nature, though he doesn’t yet realize the value of keeping his head down. By not looking at Inez, he’s trying to avoid reducing her to a mere object.
Quote #4
ESTELLE: You looked so – so far away. Sorry I disturbed you.
GARCIN: I was setting my life in order. You may laugh but you'd do better to follow my example. (132)
What exactly is Garcin hoping to accomplish with all this solitary time?
Quote #5
ESTELLE: Are my lips all right?
INEZ: Show! No, they're a bit smudgy.
ESTELLE: I thought as much. Luckily [throws a quick glance at Garcin] no one's seen me. I'll try again. (228-30)
Garcin is "no one" for Estelle because, at the moment, he has his head buried in his hands. He’s not looking at her, so in her mind, he doesn’t count.
Quote #6
INEZ: When I say I'm cruel, I mean I can't get on without making people suffer. Like a live coal. A live coal in others' hearts. When I'm alone I flicker out. (299)
The characters are as much tormented by their need for company as they are tormented by the company itself. There is a tension between wanting to take another’s subjectivity and freedom from them, and being afraid to lose your own freedom and subjectivity by exposing yourself.
Quote #7
GARCIN: Inez, they've laid their snare damned cunningly – like a cobweb. If you make any movement, if you raise your hand to fan yourself, Estelle and I feel a little tug. Alone, none of us can save himself or herself; we're linked together inextricably. So you can take your choice. (351)
Garcin has really learned from Inez by this point in the play. He’s repeating her ideas, though we’ll soon see that he draws different conclusions from them.
Quote #8
GARCIN: I shan't love you; I know you too well. (412)
In this play, love is only possibly through mutually accepted lies and self-deception.
Quote #9
GARCIN; Finally I thought: My death will settle it. If I face death courageously, I'll prove I am no coward.
INEZ: And how did you face death?
GARCIN: Miserably. Rottenly. Oh, it was only a physical lapse – that might happen to anyone; I'm not ashamed of it. Only everything's been left in suspense forever. Come here, Estelle. Look at me. I want to feel someone looking at me while they're talking about me on earth... (456-9)
This is the first time Garcin adopts Estelle’s tactic and wants to be looked at by someone. What has driven him to this? What does he expect to get out of her gaze?