It's interesting to me that Lewis is so engaged with it. I read Paradise Lost as a sort of fanfic. Milton does not claim to be a prophet or that it is some literal representation of heaven and hell. Within the book Satan is a fictional character with the same sort of appeal as Walter White or the Joker or Severus Snape. They seem cool as long as you don't think about it too deeply.
But I don't mean this as a criticism of Lewis who I adore. I'll have to read his Preface, since I'm sure they'll deepen my understanding.
Circling back to partially-relatable depictions of devilry, Lewis' The Screwtape Letters has it's own mix in the eponymous author Screwtape.
I recommend it even to the non-religious since many of the human errors/temptations it discusses can still be understood through an agnostic lens. For example, one doesn't have to believe whispering devils are involved in order to believe in in/out-group thinking, inferiority complexes, procrastination, etc.
> Circling back to partially-relatable depictions of devilry, Lewis' The Screwtape Letters has it's own mix in the eponymous author Screwtape.
But it's not quite the same with Screwtape, he represents a demon (fallen angel), who is sort of tip-toeing around ideas that, if he were to stumble even an inch closer, he might decide that he is actually among the "bad guys", and reform. He belongs to a tyrannical and diabolical organization that recognizes the dangers of such tip-toeing. It's been many years since I read it, but doesn't his protege end up turning him in to their secret police?
This is a counter-reversal of what he suggests Milton does with his poem.
> tip-toeing around ideas that, if he were to stumble even an inch closer, he might decide that he is actually among the "bad guys", and reform
I know Screwtape is concerned with not spooking the mortal target with unnecessary moral quandaries:
> You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
However I never got the impression Screwtape was afraid of some kind of... moral whiplash on his own account. Rather, I think he was more concerned with accidentally running afoul of the Lowerarchy's official dogma. I infer that it--like The Party in 1984--is a self-perpetuating system where no participant can do anything except oppress and predate on one another. (Hellish, indeed.)
> I hope, my dear boy, you have not shown my letters to anyone. Not that it matters of course. Anyone would see that the appearance of heresy into which I have fallen is purely accidental. By the way, I hope you understood, too, that some apparently uncomplimentary references to Slubgob were purely jocular. I really have the highest respect for him. And, of course, some things I said about not shielding you from the authorities were not seriously meant. You can trust me to look after your interests. But do keep everything under lock and key.
But I don't mean this as a criticism of Lewis who I adore. I'll have to read his Preface, since I'm sure they'll deepen my understanding.