Jean-Paul Sarte's No Exit

No Exit, a play penned by existentialist Frenchman Jean-Paul Sarte details a story of three individuals locked within a room, symbolizing purgatory. The first character, Garcin, wants nothing more than to be assured that he truly is a man. Garcin, a wartime deserter who maltreated his wife and took a mistress, is well aware that he had not behaved the way society dictates men should, yet craves nothing more than to be told he is not a coward. However, these words must come from Estelle, a conventionally attractive woman who is locked in the room with Garcin. Estelle, a weak, unintelligent, shallow, yet beautiful woman craves attention from men. Despite his desire to be told he is not a coward from a woman like Estelle, Garcin rejects her advances as he finds her pathetic. Instead, Estelle’s beauty is appreciated by Ines, the final character locked in the room. Estelle is panicked by Ines’ sexual advances, and rejects them because she wants to be with, and define herself through, a man. Because Ines cannot be comfortable without Estelle, she insists on making sure Garcin and Estelle are equally uncomfortable. Each character is aware that they can leave the room at any given
The second wave of feminism took of issues of gender equality and social roles. Beauvoir wrote about how these social roles affect males and females in love. On the surface, Beauvoir and the second wave of feminism was critical towards women, however, they were truly attacking the idea that females have an essence they are supposed to live up to. Women crave a man’s authority, and his ability to protect her liberty. Beauvoir argued that a women in love looks to identify with her man’s essence. Women in love seek to find an identity through the man they are with. Beauvoir criticizes this behavior as it is existentially irresponsible, and goes on to say most women exhibit this existential