No Exit is a surprisingly simple, but effective vehicle for teaching Jean-Paul Sartre's highfalutin existentialist philosophies. The play is also a lot of fun. It's like watching a well-written episode of Beverly Hills 90210, one that explores the meaning of one's existence, not whether Brenda and Dylan are really over.

In addition, the ideas presented in this play— bad faith, existential crisis, hell as other people, etc.—provide a foundation for discussing other pieces of literature. For example, is there any doubt Jay Gatsby is suffering through bad faith at the end of the The Great Gatsby when he is waiting for Daisy to call him? Or that Walter White, throughout Breaking Bad, is really just cooking meth altruistically for his family?