Roopa Banerjee

“I wish I had more time to spend with my family.” When we say this, we are expressing a wish to be fulfilled. We know that this wish conveys our sense of longing and regret and hope for a better situation, even if it is unlikely to be realised. But what most of us don’t know is that we are using the literary device optatio to voice these wishes.

Optatio is a figure of speech expressing a wish or hope, often with the objective of affecting the listener or changing reality. It is commonly used in literature, poetry, and everyday speech, and is an effective way of adding depth and meaning to the written or spoken word.

The word optatio originates from the Latin optare which means to wish or choose. Optatio has been used for centuries in classical rhetoric, and passed down generations as a technique for writers and speakers to influence their audiences.

An early example is in William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29. In this legendary poetic work, Shakespeare expresses the narrator’s wish for happiness and deliverance from troubles:

“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate.”

Shakespeare uses optatio to convey the narrator’s longing for a better life, and thus generates readers’ empathy for his plight.

In another example from more recent literature, novelist Toni Morrison in her book Beloved uses optatio to express Sethe’s desire for a better future for her daughter. She wishes that “Beloved would smile and take me into her arms.”

“Oh! To be a dragon, a symbol of the power of Heaven — of silkworm size or immense; at times invisible. Felicity! Pour long life to his Miss! And survivorship” shows classic use of optatio by Virginia Woolf in the novel To the Lighthouse. Woolf highlights the aspiration to be something greater and more powerful.

Similarly, Mrs. Darling putting her hand to her heart and crying, “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” in Jim Barrie’s Peter Pan is another example of delightful use of optatio.

Optatio has been used often in popular culture too. The song ‘A Whole New World’ from Disney’s Aladdin expresses the protagonist’s wish for a life beyond ordinary existence. Through optatio, the song conveys a dream and invites the audience to hope for it, too.

Similarly in the song ‘I Wish’, Stevie Wonder repeatedly uses the phrase “I wish,” to express his longing for a better life.

So now when you articulate a wish aloud, pause a moment to appreciate a literary device used for thousands of years!

Exercise
Here are the titles of literary works written by women authors which use optatio generously. Guess their authors.
Literary works
1. Little Women
2. The Bell Jar
3. The Handmaid’s Tale
4. The Colour Purple
5. Jane Eyre

Authors:
1. Louisa May Alcott
2. Sylvia Plath
3. Margaret Atwood
4. Alice Walker
5. Charlotte Bronte