Screwtape Letters Analysis

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis takes place in England during the early 20th century. The letters are advice written by Screwtape, a senior devil in Hell’s Lowerarchy, to Wormwood, his nephew and a new tempter. All of the letters focus mainly on the state of the soul of a young man, known merely as the patient, who in one of the first letters becomes a Christian. As the patient struggles to remain in a state of grace, he is influenced by his relationship with his mother and the young woman with whom he falls in love. One of the main areas of life that The Screwtape Letters focuses on is love: the world’s understanding of it as influenced by the devils, the devils’ lack of understanding of love, and God’s proper view of love. Through presenting …show more content…
Over the last few centuries, Screwtape and the other devils have been shifting public opinion towards the belief that love is the only proper reason for marriage. Screwtape believes this to be an improvement because of two natural consequences. First, Screwtape says, God insists on monogamy or abstinence from sex. With the new view of marriage, those who feel it is too difficult to abstain from sex cannot marry to avoid temptation and sin, because they are not “in love.” In addition, love becomes all-powerful. In Screwtape’s words, “ ‘love’ will be held to excuse a man from all the guilt, and to protect him from all the consequences, of marrying a heathen, a fool, or a wanton.” (97) To prevent this powerful tool from reaching the devils, Lewis recommends that people realize marriage’s true meaning. He implies that a spouse may be taken as an aid to virtue, “for mutual help, for the preservation of chastity, and for the transmission of life.” (97) Lewis considers virtue an important quality to find in a spouse. He realizes that love imitates, for good or ill, that which it loves. So Lewis, through Screwtape’s opposite counsels, advises against marrying those who would make faith life difficult and advocates for a Christian spouse of proven virtue. In The …show more content…
A blissful side effect, in Screwtape’s mind, of the theory that love is the true basis for marriage is a higher rate of divorce. People who fall out of love can now be expected to end their marriage. Lewis favors the opposite stance and believes marriage is permanent. For him, sex is a commitment; “a transcendental relation is set up between them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally endured.” (96) Screwtape proudly announces to Wormwood that in addition, the devils have been misdirecting that emotional love towards women who look almost like boys, leading to even more divorces, since no adult woman can continue to look as boyish as the devils have made fashionable. A pleasant side effect for Screwtape is that such an idea of beauty causes those women to favor abortion and birth control, since childbearing naturally leads to a more womanly figure. This is a perversion of the family as God created it. As Screwtape writes, the “Enemy” made children dependent, and then gave the parents the desire to support and love them, binding the spouses together for their common good. Thus, God creates the family out of a permanent marriage bond and children, as Screwtape recognizes and

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Screwtape Letter Analysis