Letter 26 Summary

Screwtape approves of Wormwood sowing the seeds for future marital discord between the courting lovers at this point. Being enchanted with each other and in a haze of sexual attraction, the young couple are readily and easily sacrificing for one another. Screwtape predicts that when the first enchantment fades, they will not have built up the necessary kindness to sustain them, for they will expect one another to be as "unselfish" as they were during courtship, and neither will be able to.

In a previous letter, Screwtape said that "unselfishness" was great fodder for quarrels as each person in question hypocritically tries to be less "selfish" than the other (and letting the other darn well know about it too). Here he adds that the difference between the way women interpret unselfishness and the way men do is fertile ground for marital misunderstandings. A...