In Jean Genet's play, The Balcony, the action surrounds a bordello in
             which the women who work there help their clientele to engage in a series
             of increasing more absurd fantasies that are both exceptionally complex and
             psychologically and philosophically telling. For example, in the work,
             often these moments of deep and hysterical charade take on implications
             that include existential philosophy as well:
             Carmen (bringing a lace handerkerchief): Viewed from here, life seems
             to me so remote, in any case, men slow their naked selves, life seems
             to me so remote, so profound, that it has all the unreality of a film
             or of the birth of Christ in the manger.
             (Genet 42)
             Indeed, here in this statement are couched several intriguing philosophical
             concepts, the first of which is the idea that men in the brothel reveal
             themselves in a more "naked" form. Since, existentialism states that
             existence precedes essence, we can here assume that the meaning of the
             statement suggests that it shows the men as they really are. Of course,
             this also is a pun as the men are often quite literally naked as well.
             Similarly, the discussion of unreality is intriguing, because it suggests
             that Carmen's use of fantasy effective makes life unreal from Carmen's
             perspective, making it seem more like a film than reality. The comparison
             of filmic fiction to the birth of Christ also reflects the existential
             interest in creating one's own mythologies (as Nietzsche proposes) instead
             of accepting the culturally received ones.
             Indeed, later in the play, as the characters become increasingly
             involved in the personal fantasies of the bordello's clientele, the
             philosophical implications of the very scenes themselves increase in their
             scope and complexity. Many of these ideas radically resound with the
             concepts that find their e...