Subjunctive mood?

Question

The terrible Lord Varamyr had gone craven, but he could not bear that she should know that, so he told the spearwife that his name was Haggon. (Game of Thrones)

Context: Varamyr reliazed that the spear wife didn't know him and he didn't want to tell her who he was because he had become a coward.

Hi. Is the "should" here subjunctive mood? And can it be omitted?

Thank you.

Englishmaven · Accepted Answer

Yes to both your questions.

BillJ · Answer

zuotengdazuoHi. Is the "should" here subjunctive mood? And can it be omitted?

The terrible Lord Varamyr had gone craven, but he could not bear that she should know that, so he told the spearwife that his name was Haggon.

No - for three reasons. First, subjunctive clauses are headed by the plain form of the verb, not by the modal auxiliary verb "should"; second, "bear" does not licence subjunctive complements; third, subjunctives - like imperatives - invoke the concept of 'compliance'.

Compare the subjunctive mandative: It is important that she know that" where compliance is said to be important.

Note that there is a construction called the 'should mandative', as in It is important that she should know that, but the underlined clause is not a subjunctive one.

Subjunctive mood?

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