Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit

The setting of the play was further discussed in the Interactive oral on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, No Exit. The author’s view of Hell was compared with Dante’s view of Hell, in Dante’s Inferno. Dante believed that a person’s soul is reduced to the sin itself when damned to Hell. If Dante’s reasoning is applicable in No Exit, Garcin would be reduced to being treacherous. Garcin was evaluated in terms of the Nine Circles of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. When the question “What circle would Garcin most fit into?” was asked, the class concluded that Garcin would fit into Treachery. During the 1940s, when the play was written, people who deserted from the army would be considered traitors, and
For example, he is challenged when the door to the room he and two other women were locked in, opens; either he escapes, or stays in the room. His treachery is what defines him in the play, but can one sin define a person? The class came to the conclusion that it cannot define a person, but people are judged on whether they feel remorse for their actions. Since Garcin did not feel guilty for what he had done, he was sent to Hell. Are a person’s actions more forgivable and is he/she less likely to go to Hell if they express remorse and regret for what they have done? The class explained that if one expresses remorse and regret, he or she will be less likely damned to Hell. This conclusion proved that the characters’ lack of regret is what brought them to Hell.
In conclusion, when analyzing Garcin, it was easy to see that he was sent to Hell because of his guilt-free conscience. It was more difficult to understand which of his sins, deserting from the army or committing adultery, was the worst. Also, since all of the characters committed adultery, it is easy to see how common it was in French society and culture. The interactive oral helped me understand how society in the 1940s viewed deserters and