Allegory and Parable

"The Masque of the Red Death" is considered an allegorical tale; this means that the literal elements of the story are meant to be understood as symbolic of some greater meaning. Britannica Online explains that an allegory "uses symbolic fictional figures and actions to convey truths or generalizations about human conduct or experience." More specifically, this story may be read as a parable, a sub-category of allegory in which, according to Britannica Online, "moral or spiritual relations are set forth."

As a parable, "Masque of the Red Death" is symbolic of how humans respond to the knowledge of their own mortality. The reaction of Prince Prospero and his "thousand friends" to the presence of the Red Death is an attempt to use their material privileges in order to escape the inevitability of their own deaths. But the fact that the "masked figure" slips into their midst...