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A is a commoner right now. B is a high ranking commander. A ceremony just
finished, involving A getting bestowed a role by the queen/殿下 as a reward for
some good deeds. B was in the audience and was a very brief acquaintance of A,
this is their first real conversation. The 殿下 had defended A during the
ceremony against criticism from some of the nobility, and demanded that there
will be no objections to A's new role.

> A「ま、平民出身騎士の私もよくいびられてはいますけどね」
>
> B「あなたも平民なのですか？」
>
> A「はい──本来なら今日みたいな謁見には呼ばれませんけどね」
>
> **B「私はあの場にいましたし・・・多分あなたに向けられる視線が選民意識の高い貴族のものばかりではマズイと、殿下が判断されたのではないでしょうか」**
>
> A「なるほど・・・それであなたも呼ばれたと」
>
> B「多分ですけどね」

  * All eyes naturally should be looking at A during the ceremony and A was only looking and replying to the 殿下. So あなたに can only be indicating the direction if that were the case, and not the agent doing "向けられる". So it seems the 謁見/選民意識の高い貴族 are the ones be doing the 向ける, as is described. But then how is it grammatically correct to use the passive form here? compare to "あなたに向ける視線が選民意識の高い貴族のものばかり" for example

  * Ending the with 殿下が判断されたのではないでしょうか, who is doing the 判断 here then? What did happen was a definitive ruling by the queen that A will get the role/job without further debate. But since it was not written as "殿下に判断されたのではないでしょうか", does that mean the queen herself is being "judged" by B's interpretation? That would a very sacrilegious thing to say in this context.

I look at the sentence as:

> "[多分あなたに向けられる視線が選民意識の高い貴族のものばかり]ではマズイ" と 殿下が判断されたのではないでしょうか

... but depending who is actually doing the actions, that may make no sense.

Thanks
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2019-09-16T21:43:57.597
71853
2019-09-17T02:10:01.027
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question
grammar passive-voice
Passive ambiguity in this passage (「あなたに向けられる視線」・「殿下が判断された」)
There are two kinds of passive happening here: straightforward passive, and
honorific passive.

# Straightforward passive

This is your basic, garden-variety passive: something _is being done_.

Your analysis of the に in あなたに向けられる視線が is correct: this is not the
instrumental に, but rather the directional に.

However, your analysis of the verb isn't quite right. We can't say
あなたに[向]{●}[け]{●}[る]{●}視線が, because that means that the 視線【しせん】 is the one
doing the 向ける-ing. This doesn't make any sense, because 向ける is a transitive
verb, and 視線 here is marked with the subject particle が, such that the 視線
would grammatically have to be 向ける-ing some unstated object.

Instead, the 向けられる is the straightforward, garden-variety passive. A more
idiomatic English translation that maintains this passivity might be, _"the
gazes **[that were] turned** towards you..."_

# Honorific passive

When speaking about someone in an outside or otherwise status-elevated social
context, speakers in Japanese often use honorific constructions. In this kind
of context, using the basic verb する, I might talk about myself 致【いた】す-ing
(using the humble register for myself), whereas I'd talk about the status-
elevated person as される-ing (using the honorific register for the "exalted
other").

### Anecdote

Years ago, I visited Kyōto as a tourist. I was reasonably fluent in Japanese
after having lived in the Tōhoku and then the Kantō for a total of, perhaps,
four years or so. In the taxi cab from the station, the driver asked us,
どこから[来]{●}[ら]{●}[れ]{●}[ま]{●}[し]{●}[た]{●}か, which confused me initially, as I
wasn't used to the honorific passive. Later in the conversation, he also
asked, どこへ行かれますか. At this point, my memory of earlier studies kicked in, and I
realized more clearly what he was saying: どこから[来]{●}[ま]{●}[し]{●}[た]{●}か, and
どこへ[行]{●}[き]{●}[ま]{●}[す]{●}か, only in the honorific register, using the
passive honorific.

### Back on point

In your sample sentence, you have 殿下が判断[さ]{●}[れ]{●}[た]{●}. We see that 殿下 is
marked with the subject particle が, so we know that she's the subject of the
verb. This _could_ grammatically be the straightforward passive, but as you
note, that doesn't make sense in this context -- the queen is not being
"deemed" or "judged" in one way or another. Rather, the queen herself is
_doing_ the "deeming" or "judging" here. And because she's the queen of the
speaker, the speaker is using the honorific register, and thus we see instead
the honorific passive.

# How to tell which passive?

Generally speaking, if the passive construction would be truly ambiguous,
people will find other ways of saying things to avoid that ambiguity. Perhaps
instead of the honorific passive, they might use a different verb altogether,
perhaps なさる. As with many things in language, **context is key**.
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answer