Screwtape is the central demon correspondent in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. He writes advice to his inexperienced nephew Wormwood, who is assigned to tempt a human being known only as “the Patient.”
The book is structured as a series of letters from Screwtape to Wormwood. This inverted viewpoint lets Lewis discuss temptation, pride, distraction, resentment, and spiritual discipline by having a senior demon explain how to encourage them.
The Screwtape Letters was first published in book form in 1942. Lewis later wrote a final piece, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” which appeared separately before being published with the letters. The work’s satirical method can cause confusion: Screwtape is the mentor and correspondent, while Wormwood is the junior tempter receiving the instructions.