Labyrinth, by Jim Henson

In Jim Henson’s Labyrinth the plot closely follows the narrative structure that is documented by Propp and described by Berger. Propp establishes a series of functions which all Russian fairy tales followed and which Berger finds easily applies to modern day narratives. When these functions are applied to Labyrinth, they fit easily into the movies story line. The protagonist, Sarah, is an adequate example of Propp’s hero with some gender norms reversed and Jareth fits into the archetype of the villain. Labyrinth presents an excellent example to Berger’s updated interpretation of Propp’s fairy tale theory of structure, while presenting important modernizations to the structure.

Labyrinth begins by presenting its hero, Sarah, who is not yet sent on her mission and seems like an average teenaged girl. She is then presented with a situation that is reminiscent of many damsel in distress stories, she is misunderstood by her father and locked away in her house by her “wicked stepmother.”1 Then Propp’s necessary mediation happens, this one falling in the “the hero is dispatched directly category” 2 when Sarah is sent on her quest by the villain Jareth. She does this because she is a seeker hero, on a quest not for a “kidnapped princess”3 but for her kidnapped baby brother Toby, whom she accidentally banished to the goblin kingdom and whom Jareth will not give back. This is a modern interpretation of the classic fairy tale formula. The hero is really a heroine and she is rescuing the male character. She also isn’t especially prone to violent adventures but does what she must out of integrity and a need to protect her brother. The villain also does not fit the prototype of the Propp’s villain, who should be “ugly, often grote...

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...rse. The character of Hoggle on the other hand shows regret for poisoning Sarah, excitement over being called her friend, and fear of falling into the stinking bog.

The puppets in this story are also more relatable than the human characters. Jareth is a villain, who shows no emotion, and who no one would readily relate to. Sarah begins the story as an average teenager, and in that way may begin as a character that people can sympathize with. However, as the story continues her character become more noble, not becoming violent, learning from her mistakes, forgiving her friends for slighting her, and persevering throughout it all. On the other hand Hoggle is much like a real person with his vulnerability and defense of self, and Ludo may not be relatable to a specific person, but aspects of his vulnerability make the audience feel sympathy for his character.