"Huis Clos" by Jean-Paul Sartre

“Huis Clos” by Jean-Paul Sartre

 “Huis Clos” or “NO Exit” is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original title “Huis Clos” which is the French equivalent of the legal term: “in camera” or “a private discussion behind closed doors”.

“Huis Clos” is a one act play with four main protagonists. It is set in what appears to be a beautifully decorated hotel sitting room but we soon find out that the hotel is actually in hell. Hell in this play is not as we know it! No devil, no torturers  and no fire; in this case it is three deceased characters from different echelons of French society being punished for the sins they committed on earth by being locked into a room together for eternity. This is the source of Sartre's most famous quotation:

“l'enfer, c'est les autres “

Or quite literally, “Hell is other people!"

The play begins with a bell boy showing a man named Joseph Garcin into a room that the audience soon realizes is in hell. In the play, the dominion of hell is depicted as a series of rooms and passages in which other groups of sinners reside and must endure their own particular brands of hell. The room in to which Garcin has been shown has no windows, no mirrors, and only one door, a fact which doesn’t become apparent until the main protagonists wish to escape and are unable to. Eventually Garcin is joined by Inès Serrano, and then another woman, Estelle Rigault. After their entry, the bell boy leaves and the door is closed and locked and remains this way until virtually the end of the play. All three expect the imminent arrival of a torturer and when none arrives they are left wondering about the reason for their presence in the room with such diametrically opposed companions. Instead, they are left to explore each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories. Realizing by degrees that their thoughtless and immoral actions will have consequences: this is to be their punishment: they are each other's torturers. As the play unfolds, the three protagonists see events involving their family, friends and lovers that are happening on Earth. These occurrences have been brought about as a direct result of the sins committed by the three before they arrived in hell. Eventually however, as the connection that they had with loved ones etc begins to weaken, the living  begin to forget them and get back to their mundane lives and feelings of grief and resentment begin to fade; our characters are left with their own thoughts and the unwanted company of the other two. Near the end of the play, Garcin demands he be let out and at his words the door is unlocked, however, none of the three find themselves able to leave after all. Their reaction is in part due to the substantial heat –a little more true to the image of hell which we are usually presented with-and fear of the horrors that could lie beyond the safety of the threshold of the door; but primarily to Garcin’s need for Inès’s confirmation that he is not “un lache” “a coward”.

Characters:

Joseph Garcin

Garcin’s sins are cowardice and callousness. His poor wife has to bear the terrible burden of his immoral cowardly behaviour even after he is gone. She is a run down individual who struggles to cope with the shame of him having deserted the army during World War II and the embarrassment and anger at his blatant womanising and cheating on her. Garcin had subjected his wife to the cruelty of bringing his numerous mistresses home with him and demanding that she make them coffee in bed. In the first instance, Garcin is true to form: hating Inès because she understands his weaknesses and lusting after the beautiful and rich Estelle because he feels that if she treats him with reverence and admires his strength he can achieve that much sought after feeling  of being a “manly man”. However, by the

end of the play he begins to realise that because Inès understands the meaning of cowardice and wickedness-as Estelle still refuses to recognise that she has done anything wrong-, only absolution and understanding at inès’s hands can save him and he begs her to say that he is not a coward.

Inès Serrano

Inès is the second character to enter the room. She is a lesbian postal clark whose sin was to turn her cousin’s wife against him. When Florence leaves her marriage to set up home with Inès, a trail of destruction is left behind them. In fact, the lovers do not go on to live happily ever after, Florence’s husband dies in a tram accident and the sadistic Inèss is relentless in her taunting of her guilt ridden lover. Florence finally succumbs to the heavy burden of her guilt at leaving her husband by switching on the gas and killing inès and herself. Inès seems to be the only character who understands the power of opinion: throughout the play she is able to manipulate Estelle and Garcin's perceptions of themselves. At one point in the play she tells Estelle to look in to her eyes as if they were a mirror and Estelle learns some harsh unwelcome truths about her coquettish nature. Inès is furthermore able to change the way in which they see each other, e.g. Garcin begins to value her opinion and seeks Solis from her rather than the admiration of the beautiful Estelle, and by the end of the play he begs her to tell him that he is not a coward. She is the only character who is honest about the evil deeds she, Garcin, and Estelle have committed during their time on earth. Acknowledging the fact that she is a cruel person, she does not attempt to deny or make excuse for her behaviour and she is quite resigned to her punishment.

Estelle Rigault

Estelle is a beautiful, haughty high-society woman, a blonde who shamelessly married her husband for his money before having an illicit affair with a younger man.  As far as she is concerned, men are there to weight on her, to adore her and make her feel good about herself. The affair is merely an insignificant fling in her eyes, whereas her lover becomes emotionally attached to her. She drowns the illegitimate child that they conceive together by throwing it from a balcony in to a lake which drives her lover to commit suicide. Throughout the play she makes advances towards Garcin, seeking to pick up where she left off before her death. Her need is for Garcin to adore her and thus define her as the fairest of her sex-not like the plain and common Inèss! Her sins are deceit vanity and worst of all murder which also motivated a suicide and she compounds these terrible sins by refusing to admit any culpability whatsoever. She lusts after the stereotypical macho man, which Garcin himself strives so desperately to be.

The Bell Boy

The bell boy enters the room with each character, but his only real dialogue is with Garcin at the very beginning of the play. We learn little about him or any crimes he may have committed, except that his uncle is a very important man. The inference being that he may be the torturer in chief.

The main theme of the play is choices and consequences. Although nothing will change for our three protagonists, the choices they made whilst living are directly responsible for their sentence in hell. Each one made immoral, irresponsible and selfish choices during their lifetime without any recourse to the consequences. Each of them thought only of fulfilling their needs or desires at all costs. With the concept of “L’enfer, c’est les autres2 we realise that there are always inescapable consequences as each character is tortured by themselves and in turn by the other two.