While in the play No Exit hell is famously defined as "other people", it is the setting of hell that will ultimately create the hostile and unstable conditions that the characters find Sartre places his characters in his existentialist hell so that they learn through their punishments, a strategy by which he intends to expose their inner, self-conscious nature until they accept who and where they are. Ultimately, through the Second Empire drawing room, the buzzer, and such peculiarities as the bronze ornament and the letter opener, Sartre is able to force his characters to clash, judge, and mentally torture each other, until they accept their place in the his existentialist hell. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayWhen the waiter tells Garcin that the bell works "capriciously," Sartre uses a playful form of dramatic irony, as the audience knows that the bell will not work. It seems then that this is the purpose of the bell and the closed door: to trap the characters together and remind them that they have no escape or communication outside of their imprisonment. However, Sartre uses the door towards the end of the play to expose Garcin's cowardly nature. Faced with Inez's judgement, Estelle remarks that she wants to leave, which Garcin says; “Go if you can. Personally, I don't ask for anything better. Unfortunately the door is locked." However, when the door swings open towards the end of the play, he is adamant that he "won't go" despite asking to be released. This serves to expose Garcin's cowardly nature to the point that he is too scared to leave the company of others and leave his hell. After all, “the leadership” (a sinister and ambiguous term) of hell is so sure of its cowardly nature that this group does not refuse to open the door, for it is clear that Garcin will not leave the room. Likewise, the sofas are much more than just amenities designed to fit the style of the Second Empire living room. Sartre initially uses the sofas to show Estelle's existential flaws. They're so horrible." When Inez offers Estelle her couch, Estelle takes on the perfect existentialist point of view, asking, “What's the point of worrying now? We have to accept what happens to us." It raises the point that Sartre is trying to make these characters see: there is no point worrying about your appearance or any vanities, especially not in hell. Estelle doesn't immediately stick to this idea and moves on to Garcin's sofa: "The only one that could suit her, is that of that gentleman", a statement that shows the audience why she was placed in hell Sartre's existentialist. Furthermore, the sofas force the characters to sit facing each other, which clearly disturbs Estelle and Garcin, as demonstrated by the remark “Will you always see me?” by Garcin. Here we see the success of sofas as an existentialist punishment. Garcin wishes to hide from Inez's judgment and, ultimately, the truth that he is a coward, thus behaving even more cowardly. Inez points out this reality: “Oh, cowardly, weak, run to women for comfort!” However, the punishment of being constantly watched proves too much for Garcin, who succumbs to Inez's pressure and judgment, further demonstrating why Sartre places him in hell. Due to the narrow nature of his hell, Sartre often has his settings overlap and combine to inflict further punishment on the characters. A good example of this tactic is how the lack of flashing lights and mirrors combinewith sofas. Garcin beautifully exemplifies how unrelenting unblinking life can be: “You can't imagine how restful and refreshing (blink) it is. Four thousand little breaks an hour.” This idea is reflected in the sofas as the characters cannot take refuge in themselves and their thoughts and therefore are forced to confront each other. If there were mirrors, they symbolized the reflection of the characters' flaws in each other, but, "since there are no mirrors...the characters become a mirror of each other's actions and thoughts." Estelle, the vainest of the three characters, says "When I can't see myself I start to wonder if I really and truly exist." This statement tells us that Estelle accepts her identity through her appearance, therefore, we can see how Sartre tries to force Estelle to come out of her narrow ways and adopt a more existentialist way of thinking. However, Estelle resists throughout the play and seeks approval constantly, whether by trying to see her reflection in the ornament and in Inez's eyes, or by clinging to Garcin to make love to her. to try to distract herself with Garcin, but in the end she will be left with no one to support her. At the end of the show, Estelle attempts to stab Inez with the letter opener and escape the existentialist punishment of being alone, but that's it. At this point he falls victim to Sartre's existentialist punishment. The inclusion of the letter opener perplexes both the characters and the audience. As Garcin points out "... what's the point?". It is used when Estelle attempts to kill Inez, as he "stabs her multiple times". Clearly, Estelle is completely unaware that the characters are all dead, as evidenced by the numerous stabs aimed at Inez. Furthermore, his determination and belief that he can get rid of Inez is demonstrated by the statement, “Right!…I'll stop and watch.” This is evidence that Estelle is trapped in her self-centered bubble and does not recognize that she is truly in hell. Inez bursts the bubble in her response: “…what do you think you're doing? You know very well that I am dead." Can Estelle only respond with "dead?" We know from the beginning of the play that Estelle has refused to come to terms with her state, as she asks the characters to define themselves as "absent" rather than dead. It is easy to imagine the look of realization appearing on Estelle's face as she fully accepts where and who she is. Using the knife, Sartre manages to offer Estelle false hope in her narrow-minded state, before she disappears through shock, she accepts herself; forever in an existentialist hell. Finally, like the letter, there is another prop that apparently has no reason to be in hell. The bronze ornament is described as "horrific", "A bronze atrocity" and it does not fit with the decor of the Second Empire. Therefore there has been much discussion as to why Sartre includes it. Introducing the ornament with the quote: "I suppose there are times when I look at it with open eyes..." Sartre implies a disturbing relationship between the ornament and Garcin. The repetition of “gazing with open eyes” is cleverly used to show the peculiarity of the effect this ornament has on Garcin, just like the peculiarity of the ornament in Sartre's Inferno. This sense of strangeness is further emphasized with: “He approaches the bronze ornament and caresses it reflexively.” For the audience to see this rational man acting completely irrationally, under the influence of the inanimate bronze, is extremely chilling. The next mention of the bronze ornament will be the final and one of the most important in the script: “This bronze… I'm looking at this thing on the mantelpiece, and I understand that I'm in hell… They knew I would stay next to the:, 1995