No Exit

1. Garcin, Inez, and Estelle enter hell one by one. They are all confused at first as to where the torture devices are; then they realize that being alone with the other two will be torture. They learn that Inez killed three people, that Estelle killed her baby and caused a suicide, and that Garcin was a deserter and caused his wife's death. They try to figure out what to do with themselves; Estelle wants Garcin, Inez wants Estelle, and Garcin just wants to be away from the both of them. At the end, they just accept their fate; they're stuck in that little room together forever.

2. Satre achieves his intentions by use of the text and stage directions. What the characters have to say is very important; their dialog together, and the monologues when they see things that the other don't see, are important for character development. I think the intention was an existentialist sort of meaning; they're all stuck in hell together forever, and there's nothing that they can do about it, and it sucks.

3. Garcin's objective is to get out. Estelle's objective is to have Garcin and be rid of Inez. Inez's objective is to have Estelle.

4. The obstacles are the other characters, and the characters' own personal battles (their reasons for being in hell.)

5. Conflict is an integral aspect of the play; it's all the play is about. They can't really escape it. It can't be resolved, except in the fact that the characters have now realized their plight.

6. It's very interesting that the play takes place in only one room; I like that. I think it really, really adds to the intensity and focus. The text and character interaction seem to be the most important aspect of the play, so those are what require attention.

7. All of the characters speak in a language appropriate to the time (even though the original, I believe, wasn't written in English at all.) Granted, their societal roles and their choice of words do not exactly match up all the time. But it's easy to notice that Inez uses coarser language than the other two, and that Estelle is a very "proper" lady.

8. It's inspiring. I'm not sure that I would want to write a play like No Exit, but it's shown me that there's a lot of power in simplicity, as long as it has a strong message. And the message can be "this sucks," or "look what kind of hell we have to deal with for an eternity."