Existentialism In Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit

A sense of meaning is something that we all crave- maybe even need. A lot of people’s energy is contributed to finding meaning in our lives. Some people find it through religion, fighting for social justice, or by seeking beauty through artistic expressions like painting or performing. However, existentialists, such such Sartre (the father of Existentialism), believe that existence precedes essence, meaning people are born first and it is up to each person to determine who they are and what purpose they serve. However, one does not have a set path that they are to follow. As a result, the world, people, and their actions lack any real importance. Sartre focused on the terrifying abundance of freedom and uses hell as a symbol.
In Jean-Paul Sartre’s famous play No Exit, he articulates a doctrine through the mouth of one of the characters towards the end of the play that “hell is other people” and this is a catchphrase that has had a currency far exceeding the

Hell, is-as they very quickly realize-not a place of physical torture the way that it’s portrayed in so many cases; there’s no burning coal, no flames, or torture devices. Instead, they’re placed in a room that’s decorated and rather poor taste according to their own sensibilities, and already you see how that may appear hellish. Nothing can really be changed or moved in the room and you can’t get out, and slowly they start filling the room with the three main characters who are going to be there. First, there’s Garcin, who’s a newspaperman who fled Rio where he had been conscripted and fighting a war and got caught first fleeing to Mexico, and got caught and was killed by a firing squad. Inez is kind of a nasty woman who doesn’t have a lot of nice things to say and fancies the other character Estelle, who went from rags to riches by marrying a man twice her age. These three characters are stuck with each