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
VALET: Sorry, sir. No offense meant. But all our guests ask me the same questions. (22)
Yet Inez does not, as we later see. What is so different about her? Why doesn’t she have the same concerns as Garcin?
Quote #2
No eyelids, no sleep; it follows, doesn't it? I shall never sleep again. But then – how shall I endure my own company? (31)
Right…Garcin doesn’t exactly have it figured out yet. If only his own company were the worst he had to endure!
Quote #3
VALET: Oh, the management can cut off the current if they want to. But I can't remember their having done so on this floor. We have all the electricity we want. (46)
Moments like this one keep No Exit steeped in a sort of dark humor; hell is other people, but it’s also bureaucratic nonsense.