Foucault's panoptic disciplinary power and torture : the power of the gaze in jean-paul sartre's no exit (1944)‎

Abstract EN

The effect of the Panopticon – introduced by Bentham - is to induce in the inmate a state of permanent visibility/exposure that assures the automatic functioning of the observer‘s (in tower) power.

The key lies in the sustained power of surveillance despite its discontinuity in action.

It does not matter who exercises the power or the motive behind it, but the more conscious a person is of another person‘s presence: the more a person‘s freedom is threatened by feeling objectified.

According to Michel Foucault, discipline is maintained without the need to use force to dictate a certain behavior due to the power of the gaze.

Disciplinary power based on knowledge (power-knowledge) defines what is normal, acceptable or deviant.

Thus, power becomes a source of social discipline and conformity.

Consequently, microcosmic systems of surveillance used in schools or panoptic prisons for example no longer require force or violence.

My paper uses Michel Foucault‘s book Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison as its main theoretical framework and applies his theories to Sartre‘s masterpiece No Exit (1944).

The play setting is an example of a panoptic prison that is described by its residents as inescapable hell, born from the need to derive validation and identity from others as long as they are the objects of each others‘ gaze.

This leads the characters to a state of permanent torture.

Yet, when characters are given the chance to leave through an open door, they choose each others‘ intolerable company rather than heading towards the unknown.