Magic and the Supernatural - Lancaster University

Fantasy and Myth in Pan’s Labyrinth: Analysis of Guillermo del
Toro’s Symbolic Imagery
María Teresa DePaoli
Abstract
Establishing clear references to Francisco de Goya, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s
Labyrinth locates the story within the context of the Spanish post-civil-war.
Mythical elements play a leading role in the film when the totalitarian system of
social control that Francisco Franco’s fascist regime established during the postwar
period function as the underlying reference in the film’s narrative. Ofelia, the
child protagonist, enters an uncanny world to escape the horrors of the reality she
is forced to face. Playing with the traditional fairy-tale literary formula, del Toro’s
work not only offers a contemporary creative representation of the state of
‘Franquismo.’ Instead, the film functions as a cautionary tale that denounces
atrocities commonly taking place under totalitarian systems anywhere. In this
chapter, I propose the ‘Cronus Complex’ as a theme through which the symbolism
that permeates Pan’s Labyrinth acquires a universal dimension.
Key Words: Spain, Civil War, Cronus, Franco, Hunger, Fascism, Pale Man, Goya.
*****
The myth of Cronus is at the centre of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth
(2007). Del Toro acknowledges that a major inspiration for the creation of the
supernatural creatures in the film was painter Francisco de Goya. In fact the scene
when the Pale Man bites the fairies in half and gobbles them up is a direct
reference to one of Goya’s famous ‘Saturn devouring his son.’ Goya in turn, as
Valerian von Loga has pointed out, was likely influenced by the 1636 Saturn, a
painting by Peter Paul Rubens which describes the same mythological image.
However, unlike Rubens’, whose focus is on the infant’s horrified face, Goya’s
energetic rendition emphasizes the god’s expression, denoting violence, madness,
and fear, while devouring his adult child.
Behind Goya’s painting and del Toro’s monster is the ancient Greek myth of
Cronus, the epitome of cruelty. The fear of losing power and control results in the
cannibalistic act of Cronus. The god swallowed his children because he feared one
of them would overthrow him. In this chapter, I analyse del Toro’s film in light of
the ‘Cronus complex,’ an overlooked psychopathological condition, and explain
how this motif commands two narratives that bleed into each other as the diegesis
unfolds: one at a historical-realism level, and the other at a fantasy-psychological
one. Toward this purpose, I will focus on the characters of Ofelia and her evil
stepfather, Captain Vidal. Ultimately, Ofelia’s dysfunctional family symbolizes
Spain as a dislocated nation living under fear and oppression caused by the ruthless