The Respectful Prostitute () is a French play by Jean-Paul Sartre, written in 1946, which observes a woman, a prostitute, caught up in a racially tense period of American history. The audience understands that there has been an incident on a train with said woman involved, but also a black man on whom the blame is laid by the prejudiced law enforcers. What comes to the viewer's realisation is that a white man instigated an attack, but it is in the interests of the law to preserve the perception of the white person at the expense of the black "devil". The tale takes a brief look at the loss of freedom inside a cruel world, a subject that dominates Sartre's literary career. The play premiered in November 1946 at the Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau in Paris. When the play was produced in the United States, Sartre was accused of anti-Americanism. According to his partner Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre wrote the piece in only a few days to fill an entire evening at the theatre, because alone was too short. Sartre's play is believed to have been based on the infamous Scottsboro case, in which two white prostitutes accused nine black teenagers of rape on a train traveling through Alabama in 1931. The play was adapted in the film twice: La Putain respectueuse (1952) directed by Marcello Pagliero and Den respektfulla skökan (1960) directed by Hans Abramson. Characters Lizzie — A white woman. She is a prostitute. While she does not wish to testify against the Negro in court, she is manipulated by the Senator into signing an accusation. She wears a snake charm bracelet. The Negro — A black man who is described as "tall" and "strapping" with white hair. He is married and has children. He is on the run because he has been accused of raping Lizzie. Fred Clarke — A wealthy white man. The Senator's son. He asks Lizzie to testify against the Negro and accuse him of raping her, so that his cousin, Thomas, will not go to jail for shooting the black man who was with the Negro. The Senator — Fred Clarke's father. He manipulates Lizzie into signing the accusation. Thomas — Fred Clarke's cousin. He killed the black man who was with the Negro. John and James — Two policemen, that also try to pressure Lizzie into signing the accusation. Plot summary Setting Lizzie