I must have been stupid, indeed, if I could have considered the history of that friendship without shame

[shootingstar]

. . .
From this picture of my own disgrace and wretchedness it is not wonderful if my mind turned with relief to the thought of Pinkerton waiting for me, as I know, with unwearied affection, and regarding me with respect that I had never deserved, and might therefore fairly hope that I should never forfeit. The inequality of our relation struck me rudely. I must have been stupid, indeed, if I could have considered the history of that friendship without shame - I who had given so little, who had accepted and profited by so much . . .
. . .
(Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, The Wrecker, chapter V: IN WHICH I AM DOWN ON MY LUCK IN PARIS)

Hello there,
I take the underlined sentences to be first conditional. Am I right?

 

[jutfrank]

I definitely wouldn't classify this as a first conditional, no. What's your definition of a first conditional exactly?

I don't even consider it conditional at all, pragmatically speaking. He means something like 'I must have been stupid not to have felt shameful about our friendship'. There's no real sense of conditionality there. He's saying that he didn't feel shame, but now looking back, he feels that he was wrong not to.

 

[shootingstar]

I don't even consider it conditional at all

Thank you very much.
If so, what sort of clauses do the main clause and the if-clause represent? I must have been stupid is the main clause and the if-clause is the associated or corresponding subordinate clause. They form a unified whole in my opinion.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, that's right.

 

[shootingstar]

OK - I see. However, what sort of clauses do those clauses represent if they aren't conditional? In my opinion the statement is an imagined situation in the past (in this instance present perfect) that is believed to be true or quite likely.