Sartre’s No Exit directly rebuts the ending of Beauvoir’s She Came to Stay

Evidence

Sartre’s play Huis Clos (No Exit) is an implicit reply to Beauvoir’s novel She Came to Stay. Originally entitled Th e Others, it challenges the teleological construct of Beauvoir’s novel by pointing to the futility of the murder of the Other. Sartre’s play is structured around a triangular relationship similar to the one in She Came to Stay, since it involves two women and one man: Estelle, Inès, and Garcin. In She Came to Stay, Fran- çoise, jealous of the attention given to Xavière by Pierre, succeeds in murdering her. However, in No Exit, Estelle is deprived of this solution to the problem of the Other. Since Inès is already dead, she cannot be killed: INÈS [struggling and laughing]: But, you crazy creature, what do you think you’re doing? — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 287

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Ferré/Bauer ‘new biography’ contra ‘old biography’ debate — this is a concrete instance of the mutual influence thesis where Sartre’s play answers Beauvoir’s novel point for point.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing whether Beauvoir recognized and accepted Sartre’s rebuttal — her own stated dissatisfaction with the ending (murder is not the solution) suggests she later agreed with his critique.