[eemax]

Interesting, but I'd be surprised if anyone who reads HN chose anything other than some permutation of {{Maid Marion, Little John}, {Robin Hood, The Sheriff}}, which cuts down the answer space by a factor of 6.

My own ranking was MM, LJ, RH, S. Did anyone choose something different from that? Or seriously choose anything different than one of the four permutations above?

[waterlesscloud]

I think it's weird you assume everyone reading this site would share your view, to the point of being surprised if they don't.

There seems to be quite a bit more diversity here than that.

[droopyEyelids]

This leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

We're supposed to leave all our preconceived notions behind, which means that Robin Hood & crew could be random people subject to the whims of an arbitrary and despotic sheriff. If thats the case, it's a much more difficult situation to judge.

For the record I chose the same as you.

[eemax]

Doesn't that possibility just make it easier to put the sheriff on the bottom though?

I think the harder to judge possibility is if RH and crew were locked up rightfully for committing some sort of crime.

[RodericDay]

This was my assumption when I first discovered and took the test. I was pretty set on R>S, but took a bit before I settled on M>J. All the answers I tried were horoscope-y "you are happy :)" and I was gonna forget about it.

However, then I showed it to a bunch of people, and they started getting all sorts of crazy super-critical results. We started working through them, and I realized that in its simplicity the test was nevertheless tapping on some fairly outrageous opinions about the tolerability of power abuse, and the purity of women. And it stuck with me.

I think the only way to get a good result outside of the range you describe is to describe yourself as a woman, where it gives a positive spin to M>S>J>R (which I came around to as well).

[peteretep]

That was my initial reading too, but after talking to my wife (who also MJRS), I start wondering if Robin and John should be swapped. Robin may not have been right to be angry, but it is probably not all that surprising - he's undergone a traumatic experience (imprisonment), and then found out that he's been cuckolded by the same man who'd imprisoned him.

If he's still irreconcilably pissed a few days later, well sure, screw him. But that he acts out initially - not great, but not that surprising. Shouldn't John be trying to help his friend save his relationship, rather than suddenly running off with Marion as soon as there's an opportunity?

Marion is unambiguously blameless (although running off with John without giving Robin a chance to clear his head seems flighty), and the Sheriff completely irredeemable - by any reasonable standard he coerced Marion in to having sex, and then derelicted his duty by releasing two people he'd imprisoned based on a bribe.

You're given the opportunity to read through the mini personality assessments for all answers - whoever wrote them has some severe projections and prejudices.

[jacobwcarlson]

I had MM and LJ swapped, but otherwise identical to your rankings. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with MM's actions, but she still did commit adultery and engage in bribery to circumvent the legal system (albeit for honorable reasons). LJ didn't do anything shifty.

[bryanlarsen]

Many people see LJ's proposal to MM as taking advantage of a woman in a vulnerable position. I've seen people rank LJ at the bottom.

[mcv]

LJ lower than the Sheriff? I fail to see how LJ took more advantage of her than the Sheriff. He's the only one supporting her. The only way I can see him as ranking on the bottom is if you believe Robin "owns" Marion.

[yyyyes]

Except for being rather opportunistic with a women who has been extorted for sex (probably, depending on some unknowns) by one man and then physically and verbally abused by another.