Where Life Begins

I ran into an interesting quote from Sartre earlier: "Life begins on the other side of despair." When I saw this quote, my mind immediately went to Estelle. The way I interpreted the quote was that one's existence can't truly be created unless a change is made. If you live your life continuing in whatever state you were born in, you aren't creating a life for yourself. You were given this life. Although Estelle claims she grew up poor, I don't buy into that. When she was talking about her parties and lifestyle, she was genuinely shocked that Inez, an actual member of the labor class, had never attended an extravagant event. Estelle clearly grew up somewhat affluent and was able to sustain her lavish lifestyle by marrying a wealthy man. Thus, her life, at least in the socioeconomic realm, was given to her. Her actions didn't create a new essence for herself. But maybe if Estelle was able to experience different lifestyles and people, she could have changed her fate. Maybe she could have learned the futility of her lavish events and clothing and could have formed a different outlook on herself.

Another aspect of the quote is the word despair. The "other side of despair" makes me think of the rainbow after the rain or some other cliche imagery of happiness after suffering. I think what Sartre is saying is that pain ultimately defines one's ability to create their own essence as well. If Estelle could experience the hardships of others and be able to push through them, her narrow perspective of the world would be widened and the depths of her essence would expand. In her own life, Estelle never dealt with pain or suffering because she escaped all of her problems. When her wealth was threatened, she married a rich man. When she gave birth to an illegitimate child, she killed the baby. When she began seeing a young lover, she withheld information of her past. She never exposed herself to pain and so she never got through it.