No Exit maintains that mental anguish is worse than physical torment. The play focuses on three individuals trapped in hell together. No torture devices or red-hot flames are needed, as the play concludes that hell is simply other people. Suffering surfaces in a variety of ways: from mutual teasing, prodding, and baiting, to a more philosophical brand of torture (one in which the gaze of other people reduces an individual to the state of an object).
Questions About Suffering
- Which sin lands each character in hell? Does the punishment fit the crime? Does Sartre care? Why or why not?
- Who controls what the three characters are seeing back on earth?
- According to Garcin, why is he in hell? According to Sartre, why is Garcin in hell?
- Which character suffers the most in No Exit?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
The valet is the only character in No Exit who does not suffer.
The valet suffers more than any of the main characters in No Exit.