No Exit

No Exit takes place in a single room, which presents to the audience as empty at the play’s beginning. The furniture is Second Empire style, an ostentatious type of décor and architecture that emerged in the late 19th century. This style became popular while Paris was undergoing modernization and urban planning development. The room contains three couches, a mantelpiece with a bronze ornament upon it, a lamp, and a paper knife. The bronze ornament is a piece of art replicated in bronze by Ferdinand Barbedienne, a famous metalworker who specialized in replicas.

The Valet introduces Joseph Garcin to the room where he will be staying for his afterlife. Garcin calls the room “bogus in bogus” and laments having to “posture” falsely with furniture he dislikes (3). Garcin expected fire, brimstone, and torture devices. The Valet mocks him for listening to people who have never visited the afterlife (3). Garcin misses the little touches of human life, like toothbrushes and sleeping. The Valet reminds him that he doesn’t need such trivial things in death. Garcin describes feeling like a drowning man, with only his

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