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Meaning of "upon her" in this context

English Language Learners Asked by Viser Hashemi on December 4, 2020

Esmeralda was a very light sleeper. She
woke as soon as the key turned in the lock.
Then, just before Frollo blew out the lantern,
Esmeralda saw his face. “Oh, no!” she cried
out faintly. “It’s the priest!”.
“Have pity on me!” Frollo cried out. “My
love for you is like a terrible fire. It’s like a
thousand daggers in my heart! Love me! ” He
held her tightly as she struggled to get away.
“Help! Help!” she cried, as she tried to
fight off the priest. But he was too strong for
her. With her last bit of strength, she reached
out for Quasimodo’s whistle and blew it as
hard as she could.
Seconds later, Frollo felt a powerful arm
pulling him away from Esmeralda. In the
darkness, Frollo could not clearly see who it
was—but he thought it must be Quasimodo.
Then he saw a gleaming sword being raised
over his head. “Quasimodo!” he yelled,
forgetting that the bell-ringer was deaf. Frollo
was sure that he was about to die!
Then, suddenly, Quasimodo hesitated.
“No! No blood upon her!” he cried out. Frollo
felt himself being pulled away.

Does it mean:

1: Nobody should be killed because of her

or

2: Nobody should be killed in front of her eyes

One Answer

I think OP has been misled by comments here. The cited text (shortened from Let there be no blood upon her!) is effectively equivalent to No blood should be spilt (=nobody should be killed) on her account. That's to say, OP's first suggestion above is correct.

Note that in more common usages such as metaphoric There is blood on your hands, the implication isn't usually You killed someone (as a deliberate act) - it's more like You have done/said things that led to someone being killed (as an unintended consequence). And any implication of possible "active / deliberate involvement" is particularly weak in the specific cited context.

Answered by FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica on December 4, 2020

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