Erostratus By Jean Paul Sartre

Megalomaniac “Erostratus” written by Jean-Paul Sartre is a story about a character named Paul Hilbert who throughout the story develops obsession with fame. Sartre, “one of the great philosophical minds of the twentieth century” and “a leading proponent of existentialism” (Sartre, 1000) borrowed heavily, as the title indicates, from Greek mythological story of Erostratus. The author enforces the character’s personality deficiencies with the historical inspiration for Hilbert’s actions through the story of Erostratus, descriptions of his awkward social interactions and the disastrous consequences as he attempts to realize his bizarre fantasies. On one hand, Paul is characterized as a person with megalomaniac mental disorder and as a person
He is not interested in having an intercourse with women because he thinks that it would rob him of his masculinity. Furthermore, he does not want to give sexual pleasure to his major enemies, women, since “they are the ones – by a long shot – who gain on the deal” (1001). His dealings with prostitutes are very awkward and for the prostitutes rather mortifying. He orders them to parade around stripped and claims, “Nothing annoys women more than walking when they’re naked” (1002). The reason why he shames prostitutes is that their humiliation skyrockets his confidence and superiority and gives him a great sexual satisfaction. After he leaves the hotel room where he spends time alone with the prostitute, Renée, he feels a great deal of malicious achievement because of his ability to astonish her as he claims that “it isn’t easy to surprise a whore” (1003). This also contributes to the empowerment of his ego, and consequently transforms his inferiority to a sense of
He is introduced to the character of Erostratus by one of his office colleagues in a conversation throughout which he is searching for a personality that would match his preferences. Erostratus, a young man who was obsessed with fame, burned down The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in order to make his name eternal in history. Erostratus, who proudly admitted to this pyromaniacal act, was for his misdeed executed (Wikipedia, par.1).Paul’s admiration for the feat accomplished by Erostratus coupled with his disdain for his contemporary society as exemplified by the demeaning way he describes everyone he encounters finally lead him to devise a meticulous plan to commit mass murder. To ensure that the incident is properly reported he writes letters to 102 writers thoroughly detailing his violent plan. The letter contains information indicating Paul’s insanity that origins from his hatred of humanity. Hi is haunted by thoughts of fame and lively dreams of homicide that get him to the point where there is no way to escape from his plan. The mere thought of murder followed by fame gives him a great deal of pleasure and self-esteem