What is the moral lesson in the novel, The Thirteen Clocks?

Within this light-hearted story is a serious moral lesson. There are coldhearted forces in the real world that, like the evil Duke, try to grasp power by belittling love and imagination, self-indulgence and escapism. Thurber wants to release the reader from those forces into simple mental recreation. This tale opens the byways of play and turns the reader loose upon them.