Ofelia, the central protagonist of the film, is a pre-pubescent tween, struggling not only to establish herself as a woman but also to find an escape from her militant stepfather. The film depicts her at an age when not only her body is changing, but her world is changing as well. She loses her childlike innocence as a result of the shocking brutality of the Captain and attempts to take refuge in the Labyrinth. “Choosing to explore a land of fantasy seems the most logical escape for Ofelia. Once she enters the labyrinth, she is faced with the entreaties of the mysterious faun. Everywhere she looks, she is trapped -- by the war, by her sadistic stepfather and by magical creatures who seek to control her” Del Toro comments (p. 04d). Ofelia is trapped by her uncontrollable situation and turns to the one thing that is a constant in her young life, her love of fairy tales. Her age, the changing of her body, and the shifting reality that her monstrous stepfather has placed around her allows the escape she makes to the Labyrinth believable and understandable.

Puig, Claudia. “’Labyrinth’ has magic in every corner.” USA Today 5 Jan. 2007. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Oklahoma State University Library. 12 March. 2008.