To keep her from achieving her goal, Jareth throws numerous obstacles in Sarah's way and Jareth is as cunning, smart and downright dangerous an adversary as Sarah could have. And to reinforce the point, Jareth almost kills her by putting her on the wrong side of a hideously spiked cleaning machine and then sets her against her gnome friend by making him into a spy. He tries everything in and out of the book to discourage Sarah from continuing in her quest. And then he tries another tack.

From the beginning, Jareth attempts to convince Sarah to return home which, in any circumstances, is the last thing she wants. However, in the dreamy "masked ball" sequence, brought on by Sarah's eating of a drugged peach, Jareth plays on Sarah's attraction to him and to his land of her dreams. He will try to win this game of his by trapping her in her own fantasies. But he does not succeed, Sarah rejects his "ideal" world. Finally, she solves the labyrinth and in his castle with Escher-like stairs Jareth attempts to play with Sarah's mind further. He tries to entice her into remaining with him in his magical kingdom, offering her a life with him in his wondrous kingdom. She would live out her wildest dreams and, more importantly, escape from the life she hates.