How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used the translation by S. Gilbert found in No Exit and Three Other Plays, published by Vintage Books in 1989.
Quote #7
A YOUNG WOMAN
If only it would start! What are they up to, those palace folk? They're never in a hurry, and it's all this waiting gets one down, what with the blazing sun and only that big black stone to look at. Just think! They're all there, crowded behind the stone, gloating over the cruel things they're going to do to us. (2.1.13)
Anticipation is worse than the ceremony itself because there are no actual dead. It's all in their heads.
Quote #8
YOUNG WOMAN
It's bitter pain for him, poor fellow, and all his love has turned to hate. Presently I'll feel him coiling around me, like a wisp of smoke, and he'll cling to me more closely than any living man has ever clung. I'll bring him home with me, wound round my neck like a tippet. (2.1.15)
Sartre very skillfully gives us a glimpse into the status quo in Argos – we get to see what the average citizens think and feel on a daily basis. They are consumed by fear and guilt and are essentially prisoners to their remorse.