Jean-Paul Sartre No Exit and Existentialism

Jean Paul Sartre's notions of freedom and the responsibility that come with it were very important to his conceptions of and contributions to the philosophy known as existentialism. Essentially, existentialism is the idea that man lives and has to define himself by his actions and the use of his freedom (and the responsibility that accompanies it). These ideas are demonstrated in Sartre's famous play No Exit. An analysis of some of the key parts of this play such as its characters, it setting, and the dialogue that takes place between the characters, as well as of the cultural circumstances that influenced Sartre's writing of this work shows that his ideas of freedom and responsibility are demonstrated in opposition in No Exit.

Sartre believed that a true existentialist was someone who took responsibility for his or her freedom by defining himself. However, virtually none of...
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