Mother Gothel manipulates Rapunzel into staying in the tower via a range of subtle emotional and psychological assaults. Mother Gothel suppressed Rapunzel's yearning to flee the tower where she had been imprisoned for the most of her life by insulting her and spreading terrible tales about the outside world. She also used this as an excuse to dress up in clothes that would make Rapunzel feel beautiful, which helped ease the young woman's pain at not being able to leave the tower. Gothel eventually tried to cut off Rapunzel's hair to ensure that she stayed inside the tower forever, but when that didn't work she resorted to more devious methods such as having actors play the part of victims on the prince's quest or telling Rapunzel that there was no hope for her escape even though she knew this was not true. Gothel's main goal was to make sure that Rapunzel did not leave the tower, so she could use her beauty to trap men who would then marry her and keep her under their control. When this method failed, she would tell Rapunzel that the only way out was with the help of the king, when actually all Gothel wanted was for Rapunzel to go see him so he could tell her that there was no hope for her escape and let her know that he had married her only daughter to his most loyal subject.