Misfortunes in genuine love

Reading Othello, I can sense the genuine connection between Othello and Desdemona. His actions -the way he speaks of her, putting a lot of faith and valuing her with respect and affection- symbolize to me that he truly loves her despite the conflicts in their racial identities and social status. For Desdemona, her love for Othello is unconditional. Despite Othello's misunderstanding of the whole situation, repeatedly calling her a "whore" and threatening to kill her, Desdemona remains loyal to him to her death. 

An interesting point brought up during class was if Othello really loves Desdemona, and I am not sure if there is a correct answer or if there is conclusive evidence where we can favor one answer over the other. Without a doubt, Othello values his reputation and status, but it is hard to determine if he prioritizes these values over Desdemona. Similarly, I don't think there is concrete evidence that Othello loved Desdemona solely/mainly because of her status. She did come from a highly regarded upperclassman, but the play mentions that Desdemona "loved me for the dangers I've passed, and I loved her that she did pity them," suggesting that Othello liked her back from her kind actions rather than anything else. 

Furthermore, Othello's mistreatment and verbal abuse of Desdemona in the final acts does suggest that Othello does not love Desdemona the same way she loves him, but again, this scene does not necessarily testify if Othello really loved her or not. I find it perfectly reasonable that Othello started to view Desdemona as unfaithful and evil after everything Iago has told him— it is a natural human reaction to become frustrated, have doubts, and get angered when you find out someone you loved the most cheated on you. In many ways, we would all perhaps react in a similar way Othello did. Does that mean Othello never loved Desdemona wholeheartedly? I don't think so. 

The answer to this question lies on how we view and define "real love," which has millions of implications and interpretations. It is hard to describe in words, but the Bible at least defines love as something that "always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." Although I think this statement has gaps and needs clarification, based on what happened between Othello and Desdemona in the end, we can say according to the Bible that their love fails to truly represent real love, because it failed to "always trust" and "always persevere."

But again, I am a bit skeptical to conclude that their love was not "real love" because their relationship seemed genuine at first, and it was just a build-up of misfortunate events that led to the tragic ending.