Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit is one of his most highly regarded and widely known works. In it, Inez, a lesbian from World War II-era France shares a room in Hell with Garcin and Estelle. None of them knew each other from their previous lives, however they have been specifically chosen to spend eternity together.
Inez is an intelligent and witty woman. She is perhaps the most real character in the play, and as such quickly comes to fully comprehend the situation they are in. She does not fool herself about her life, but is honest and realizes that if Garcin and Estelle were really the people they claim then they would not be in Hell with her. She also most quickly realizes that everything in Hell has a purpose, and that there is a very distinct reason they were chosen to be together. As she explains to Garcin, "It's obvious what they're after-an economy of man-power-or devil-power, if you prefer. The same idea as in the cafeteria, where customers serve themselves. I mean that each of us will act as torturer of the two others." As the play runs its course it becomes obvious all the different ways in which they are each the perfect torturer to the others. Their personalities clash so wonderfully as to cause one another suffering and anguish even when they try not to.
Mirrors play a fundamental role. Mirrors are more than just the silver-and-glass objects they appear to be. Or, rather, they serve a higher purpose than reflecting mere photons. They show us what we are and let us preserve our sanity, essentially. Mirrors make us less dependant on one another for our sense of self, enabling us to be more than just what other people think we are. Without mirrors to allow them to see themselves, the self-images of the players in our tale must be based purely on what other people think of them. They know how they WISH to be seen, but since who they are is based on each other's perceptions, they must accept what they are dealt. Estelle NEEDS to have a man find her beautiful. Inez can ONLY find happiness when she feels loved by another woman. Garcin died a coward's death, and now badly wants for someone to believe that he is not really a coward at heart. This strange triangle of needs works to keep everyone from ever being happy, causing nothing but constant anger and fighting. This desirous imbalance is, of course, due to very clever planning on the part of The Management.
Estelle continually pines after Garcin to find her beautiful and love her. She cannot see her own beauty in a mirror, and so she needs for someone to reflect to her what she wants to see. In return Garcin wants her to believe that he is not a coward. However, as soon as they try this arrangement Garcin realizes that he cannot love Estelle as long as Inez is present. Any time Garcin gets close to Estelle, Inez chimes in taunting him with his cowardice, which she despises. In this manner Garcin is denied his wish.
In life, Inez was despised by society and considered an abomination. Her only happiness ever came from the love of another woman, love which would allow her to see herself as more than what society thought of her. Inez badly wants Estelle's love for herself, but this idea disgusts Estelle, and so Inez is denied her wish. She blames Garcin for Estelle's refusal, and so this puts them at odds.
In order for Inez to feel complete, like a person, she needs for a woman to consider her beautiful. To this end she is necessarily a sadist. In order to get a woman to appreciate her physique in a sexual manner, Inez needs to manipulate and fiddle with the mind of her "prey." During her confessional with Garcin and Estelle, she tells of how she used the tragic death of her cousin to guilt-trip his wife into becoming and staying her lover. "I used to remind her every day: 'Yes, my pet, we killed him between us.'" The kind of affection Inez desires is taboo in the world she is from, and so she is forced by necessity to TAKE it instead. Manipulating another person implies some form of control over that person. Having control over someone requires having a way of harming them if they do not comply with your wishes. This renders the person performing the manipulation a sadist by definition. Inez uses her control over others to force them into seeing her as she wishes to be seen, giving her a feeling of acceptance and happiness.
Inez initially becomes a masochist in response to Estelle and Garcin threatening to shove her out into the corridor. “Estelle! I beg you, let me stay. I won’t go, I won’t go! Not into the passage,” she exclaims. Her mind is filled only with thoughts of self-preservation, by any means. Her sadistic personality is no longer able to get her what she wants, so she changes. She begins to beg and plead for them to allow her to remain in the room. After the door is once-again closed, Inez tries to use guilt against Estelle. Every time Garcin and Estelle touch Inez is there, ready to make a pained sound. She knows that by expressing her pain she will continually remind Garcin that she is there watching, knowing he is a coward. As long as he is aware of her he is unable to believe he is not a coward, and so he cannot love Estelle. “She is between us. I cannot love you when she’s watching.”
Throughout the play, Inez’s level-headed and brutally honest sense of reality allows her to clearly comprehend her situation and to see the others for who they really are. She is the voice of Sartre, continually stating existential truths and bringing Garcin and Estelle back to reality. She knows why she has been damned, and so she has made peace with the world and it no longer bothers her. All that she cares about is extracting what she needs from the other occupants in the room. And she is skilled enough to do it, for all time.