In No Exit Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are tortured by the presence of each other as they feel that they are being watched constantly. The absence of mirrors in the room causes the three characters—especially Estelle—to be anxious as they cannot see themselves as the others do. The gaze terrifies the characters, who see themselves as objects from the view of each other.
Besides the gaze of the play's characters, I think that there's another gaze that is involved in the play: the gaze of the play's spectators. The construction of No Exit as a play seems significant to me because while the three characters try to escape from the gaze of each other, they are constantly in the gaze of the audience. This double gaze—one within the play and another on the stage—proves that there is really no exit.
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Also, even within the play itself I think Garcin, Inez, and Estelle all feel as though they are subject to a sort of exterior gaze given their situation as they are effectively in a prison. I think the characters feel that the valet and other people who apparently run hell, including possibly Satan and/or God, can see into their room and what's going on. Several times throughout the play, the characters note that their actions have likely been either predetermined or closely monitored. When they try to act in ways to avoid their infighting, Inez points out that they can't avoid what has been planned for them. The way they are self conscious of their actions even beyond how they view each other directly could constitute some sort of external gaze that affects their choices. Here, perhaps, the self consciousness is even worse as they don't know who/what is watching them (which sort of goes back to Bentham's Panopticon a little).
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