The Threat of Existence: Violence, Transgression and Existence in Sartre’s La Nausée

Abstract

This thesis is a discussion of transgression in Jean Paul Sartre's essay 'La Transcendance de l’Ego: Esquisse d'une description phénomenologique' and his novel 'La Nausée'. Sartre's theory of consciousness is used to understand violence in 'La Nausée' and offer a new interpretation on Roquentin's 'experience with the chestnut tree'. Lastly, transgression as it appears in these two works is also compared to George Bataille's understanding of transgression.