French involvement and attitudes towards World War II
The journalist character of Joseph Garcin was a journalist before the war. He was drafted to fight in the French lines and attempted to desert when presented with the chance. Garcin was shot by a firing squad for attempted desertion.
France was occupied by German forces for four years (1940-1944), during which Sartre wrote No Exit. The people of France, both in the occupied north and unoccupied south, rebelled in what ways they could (such as Sartre's writing of plays and his formulation of Existentialism). In many ways, No Exit reveals France's attitudes towards the German forces, as well as the psychological state of minds of the French at the time. This was a major factor in the play becoming wildly popular when it premiered in Paris.
Cowardice by desertion was not uncommon on either side of World War II. Although a fictional character, Joseph Garcin would not have been alone in his act of cowardice. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 soldiers attempted desertion in 1944 alone. Garcin was unfortunate in that he was caught before he could escape, and was promptly shot by a firing squad of his fellow Frenchmen. This was common practice on all sides for attempted desertion.
The Life and Art of Ferdinand Barbedienne
Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892) was a well-known French metalworker and manufacturer, who was also known well as a bronze founder. At the beginning of his career, he partnered with Achille Collas, who had invented a machine that made miniature bronze replicas of famous statues. Together they sold miniature replicas of antiques from many museums. Barbedienne briefly helped to make cannons during the French-Prussian war.
In the play, all three doomed characters observe a bronze statue, much like something that Barbedienne might have made. They each touch the object, considering whether or not their hell is real. The inclusion of the bronze statue indeed confirms this for the characters, and in fact is crucial to this revelation to Garcin as he touches it in the play's final moments.
The statue is also an object of torture for several reasons. Firstly, the characters desire a reflective surface, and the statue teases them. Secondly, it is an ugly inclusion of the room of which they can do nothing about. Thirdly, it might be used as a tool or a weapon, but is, in fact, too large and heavy to move or use.
Adultery in 1940s France
All three of the characters trapped in this play have committed several unforgivable sins. The only one that they all share, however, is that of adultery.
In a study published in the December issue of American Sociological Review, it was found that as early as the mid-1940s societal views of the role of sex began changing from a predominantly procreative activity to one focused on individual satisfaction and self-expression. During this period, 34 of 50 adultery law revisions around the world, or 68 percent, contracted the scope of laws criminalizing adultery. Another study conducted concluded that 1 of every 2 men and 1 of every 4 women committed adultery in this period. Some claim that adultery was higher as a result of World War II, leading to these higher statistics both during and after the war.
Social Classes / Social Standings of 1940s France
The old social order changed considerably after World War II, as the postwar economic expansion brought growing affluence to an ever larger share of the French population. The vast expansion of the middle classes reduced inequality of wealth and blurred the lines between many social groups. Today power, success, and money are more important than birth in determining a person’s social status.Another sweeping change in postwar France is the growing role of women in society. Beginning in the early 1970s, women began entering the workforce in increasing numbers, many taking jobs in the expanding service sector.
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Today women constitute 45.9 percent of all French workers. However, women tend to be concentrated in low-paying jobs, and they are more likely than men to be unemployed. In recent decades women have also played a growing role in politics. Women won the right to vote in 1944; today they account for 53 percent of the French electorate. Many women have pursued successful careers in politics, but their representation in the national parliament is still lower than in most other nations in the European Union (EU).
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Many social divisions remain visible in France. A privileged elite composed mainly of leading politicians, senior civil servants, business leaders, and wealthy families still retains a strong grasp on the levers of power. The middle classes are highly stratified. Among white-collar workers, two different groups have emerged: the successful, upwardly mobile senior executives and professionals with expanding spending power and stable jobs, and a growing mass of people in clerical, retail, and food-service jobs for whom unemployment and lower living standards have become increasingly the norm. Blue-collar workers remain, to some extent, economically and socially segregated; only a small proportion of university students come from blue-collar households.
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The number of blue-collar workers has steadily declined in recent years as the economy has shifted from jobs in industry to those in the service sector.
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Society's Common Preconceptions of Hell in 1940s/1940s France
French society during World War II was fixated on death and the afterlife. Regarding their preconceptions of hell, they imagined much what they assumed it had been since ancient times (all the way back from the Medieval Ages)- that hell was a fiery pit filled with physical tortures. The flames would sear and there would be no peace for the damned. The French assumed (much like most people do today) that hell would be filled with physical anguish and turmoil, amongst other kinds of pain.The characters in the play all exude this presumption- none of them expect the torture to come from other damned souls.
