What Sarah learns on her journey

Labyrinth is a rite-of-passage film, showing a girl's journey from childhood to maturity.

At the beginning, Sarah plays with childish toys and games, and her strong interest in fantasy, magic and fairytales betrays an immature need for escapism. She is driven to make up stories and romanticise her life.

When Toby is crying, she snaps, "You want a story? Huh? OK. Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby". She casts herself as a Cinderella figure who will be rescued by a prince, using fantasy to escape from her life.

Her constant refrain of "It's not fair!" is a babyish whine. When she runs down the labyrinth's outer corridor and finds no openings, she screams and hits the wall like a toddler having a tantrum.

The labyrinth takes Sarah on a journey towards maturity and self-knowledge. After her experience there, she tidies her toys away and gives her favourite teddy bear to her baby brother - a clear metaphor for growing up. However, there is some ambivalence here, and I believe that Sarah keeps a place in her heart for play and fantasy.

Becoming a woman

Sarah seems obsessed with the memory of her mother (whose absence is discussed in the section on Oedipal themes), and the tension between the two adult females in her life - her mother and her stepmother - illustrates the rite-of-passage theme. "Sarah's mom is a mouthpiece for the joys of childhood and Sarah's stepmom is the spokeswoman for growing up" (Allen).

Her stepmother chides Sarah for not socialising or going out with boys. Her 1980s style - shoulderpads, big hair - contrasts with Sarah's simple, clean-cut, slightly romantic look. "With her straight hair, regular jeans and loafers, [Sarah is] oblivious to the hairsprayed, acid-washed and high-topped fashions of the period" (Allen).

In the labyrinth, Sarah's naivety about womanhood is partly dispelled as she learns to use her femininity to interact with males. This is shown by the use of jewellery. First, she bribes Hoggle to help her by offering him her bracelet, using seductive language – "I'll give you this… You like it, don't you?"

She thanks the old man by giving him her ring. The old man's lasciviousness, and the ring's vaginal connotation, create strong sexual undertones. But Sarah is still uncertain about her role, seeming unsure how to react to the man's leers.

Later on, Sarah displays a much fuller understanding of traditional male/female relations. She emasculates Hoggle by stealing his jewels ('family jewels' = colloquial for testicles) and holding them teasingly out of his reach, playing the role of castrating female.

The masked ball is a pivotal moment. Sarah is dressed as she has doubtless often imagined herself: a fairy princess, like her musical doll. But the doll is just a pretty toy. A flesh-and-blood teenage girl, with her hair dressed and her face made up, her curves enhanced by a low-cut gown, is quite another matter.

Sarah has only ever been concerned with her own fantasy: she never considered how others might see her if she played out this role. She certainly finds out at the ball. Men leer at her, women glance her up and down, and Jareth looks directly at her, subjecting her to a full-on male gaze for the first time in her life. Sarah learns what it's like to be a sexualised woman.

See also the analysis of Sarah's lipstick.

Don't take anything for granted

During her journey through the labyrinth, Sarah learns several valuable lessons about the world and herself. The obvious one is not to take anything for granted because "things aren't always what they seem".

This is perfectly illustrated by the scene near the beginning of the film in which Sarah finds herself in a seemingly endless corridor with "no turnings or doorways or anything". She recalls Hoggle's comments that "things ain't what they seem", and realises that she is making assumptions. The conclusion she reaches is that the corridor must end, and she begins to run.

This is logical thinking, based on her experience of corridors in the real world, which always do end. Instead, Sarah needs to think laterally, in ways she isn't used to, and see beyond appearances to find the hidden doorways. As the worm says, "Things aren't always what they seem in this place, so you can't take anything for granted".

Later, Sarah attempts to find her way in a sensible manner by leaving marks on the flagstones to indicate which direction she has come. This fails due to a factor she did not anticipate - goblins living under the flagstones, who turn the stones round so her marks point the other way. She took it for granted that flagstones don't move.

There are several occasions in the film where Sarah's preconceptions are challenged. For example, when she meets Hoggle, she is enchanted by the fluttering fairies, which, in her books and fantasies, are always sweet and pretty. She is shocked when they bite!

In the labyrinth, doors appear out of nowhere and lead to different places depending on which way they're opened. Having seen these strange things at the beginning of her journey, Sarah does not run away from Ludo despite his terrifying roars – "I'm not afraid. Things aren't always what they seem". She gives him the benefit of the doubt and helps him.

Life isn't fair

Sarah gradually becomes reconciled to the fact that life is sometimes 'unfair' and difficult. Things confound her expectations, impeding her progress. A wall that seems solid in fact has concealed entrances. Goblins change the lipstick marks she makes on the paving stones. At first, Sarah gets frustrated by this, wailing that "it's not fair".

About halfway through the film, Sarah tries to force Hoggle to help her through the labyrinth by stealing his jewels. He objects: "It's not fair!" Sarah replies, "No, it isn't", then continues, as if having realised a significant truth: "But that's the way it is". She learns to accept that things aren't always the way she wants them, and to deal with unexpected difficulties by rising to the challenge.

Say what you mean

Labyrinth highlights the importance of language in several ways.

• Sarah has to "say the right words" to get the Goblin King to steal Toby. When he appears and she asks him to give Toby back, he replies, "What's said is said". What she meant is of no consequence: if she didn't mean it, she shouldn't have said it.
• When Sarah asks Hoggle if he knows where the door to the labyrinth is, he frustrates her by dodging the reply. She gives up: "It's hopeless asking you anything", but he responds "Not if you ask the right questions". After a pause, she attempts: "How do I get into the labyrinth?" This is a more straightforward and genuine question in several ways. For instance, "Do you know where the door is?" is no good, since a yes or no answer would bring Sarah no closer to what she wants to know. That there even is a door is an assumption, so it is better to ask how to get in rather than where the door is. Finally, the right question acknowledges Sarah herself as the subject – "How do I get in". Sarah learns to say what she means - just as Alice is taught by the March Hare that saying what you mean is not the same thing as meaning what you say.
• Even the dialogue with the worm in the wall shows that precision is important when it comes to language. The worm says "'Ello", and Sarah, amazed, asks "Did you say 'hello'?", to which the worm responds cheerily, "No, I said 'ello', but that's close enough".
• Sir Didymus refuses to let Sarah, Ludo and Hoggle cross the bridge because he has taken a vow "that no-one may pass without my permission". The vow, when pronounced, sounds very solemn, and like something from legend. Its mythical resonance obscures its real meaning – Sarah eventually realises that they simply need to obtain Sir Didymus's permission.
• In the rough draft of the script, the wise man demonstrates the writers' interest in words. He constantly rambles on like a thesaurus. When Sarah asks him the way to the castle, he replies: "A castle, or fortress, or as it is sometimes known, a stronghold or citadel – or, that which has a turret and barbican, but usually not a portcullis…" He crops up throughout the script, listing words and their definitions, synonyms and meronyms.
• Wordplay is also found in an exchange between the fieries (whom Sarah asks the way to the castle): "Oh, did you say 'the castle'?" "I thought she said hassle!" "I thought she said wrassle!" "Wrassle! That's a wild idea!" (at which he leaps on Sarah). This could be seen as just a humorous piece of writing, but it demonstrates how deliberate misunderstanding of words can be used to manipulate situations.
• Sarah's final speech to the Goblin King has magic power. Sarah finds it hard to remember the final, crucial line – "You have no power over me" - but when she utters it, the Goblin King is banished and the whole labyrinth crumbles away. Similarly, Sarah's words to Hoggle, "I need you", seem to work as a magic charm to make her friends appear.

The confidence to make choices

Another thing Sarah acquires is the confidence to make decisions. The labyrinth, like any maze, consists of choices. Faced with her first decision, Sarah asks Hoggle which way he would go. When the helping hands ask her "Which way? Up, or down?", she makes the decision based on which way she is already going, trusting to inertia.

But by the time she reaches the door knockers, she is confident enough in her choice of the one on the right that she forces the knocker back in the creature's mouth rather than settle for the other knocker. She has learnt to trust her instincts, be decisive, and take control of a situation.

Similarly, when Sir Didymus prevents them from crossing the bridge because he has "sworn that none may pass without my permission", Sarah does not (as perhaps she would have done at the beginning of the film) assume defeat in the face of his defensive stance. Instead, she uses her common sense to find the solution: "May we have your permission?"

Responsibility

As argued by Hermione, an important theme in the film is that of responsibility. The first time we see Sarah, she is carried away in her play-acting. The chiming of the clock reminds her that she is late for her babysitting duties and she runs home. A clock then becomes a recurring motif throughout the film, signifying responsibility. Every time it appears it reminds Sarah of her responsibility for Toby, and prompts her towards greater haste and resolve.

As discussed in the section on power, Sarah starts out with the perspective and behaviour of a child. She sees herself as the passive victim of an unfair life, and her locus of control is firmly outside herself. She imagines herself subjected to the tyranny of her parents and her baby brother - "the young girl was practically a slave", she characterises herself in a story for Toby. However, as she progresses through the labyrinth, Sarah learns the necessary skills and confidence to assume power, and with it responsibility. This is exemplified by her determination to save Toby.

The rejection of childhood

The wise man says to Sarah: "The way forward is sometimes the way back". This could be interpreted as foreshadowing the later episode in the junk heap. Sarah returns to her childhood realm of toys and books, but realises that she must move on from this so that she can grow.

The junk heap episode is discussed in the section called Return to the womb, but it suffices to say here that the scene is a blatant metaphor for the rejection of childhood (or at least part of it). Sarah realises that "it's all junk", holding her back, suffocating her in a kind of surrogate womb of pretend-play and security.

It is not just in the junk heap that Sarah throws away things to do with her childhood. Even before that, she throws her lipstick away when her marks fail to lead the way, and she gives her bracelet to Hoggle and her ring to the old beggar. (The ring is particularly interesting: the rough draft makes explicit that this ring was a gift from Sarah's mother, and traces of this idea remain in the film, in the emotional attachment she appears to have to it.)

The rough draft

In the rough draft, the story's denoument is very different, but it too underlines the rite of passage theme. It is set in Jareth's bedchamber, where Jareth states that he no longer wants Toby as a goblin prince, but instead wants Sarah as his queen.

He addresses her as "little girl", and his offer – "You'll rule by my side… [You'll have] the chance to never have a care in the world, to never have to do anything that you don't want to do" is calculated to appeal to a petulant, frustrated young girl such as Sarah was at the beginning of the film.

But Sarah's quest has made her a stronger person: she has grown up. Despite Jareth's protestation: "I know you, I know what you want", Sarah rejects him forcefully and takes Toby home.