Thomas More's "Utopia" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Not place

The word utopia combines "ou-", meaning not, with "topos", which means place. The prefix "eu," meaning good, is also pronounced the same way. Some critics argue that by confusing "good place" with "not place", Thomas More was implying that an ideal society is impossible. More's original name for the society was Nusquama, which is the Latin equivalent of "no-place".

Answer: A peninsula

More describes Utopia as having originally being located on the edge of a peninsula, before King Utopos, the community's founder, had a 15-mile wide channel dug to separate it from the mainland. The newly created island, which was shaped like a crescent, spanned approximately 200 miles wide by 500 miles long and boasted 54 cities.

Answer: Raphael

In Book One of "Utopia", More is introduced to Raphael Hythlodaeus in Antwerp. More suggests Raphael find a job in a royal court advising monarchs, but Raphael insists his ideas are too radical. He tells More about the history, politics, and geography of Utopia.

Sir Thomas More published "Utopia" in 1516. More opposed King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, for which he was convicted of treason and executed. The martyr was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1935 by Pope Pious XI.

Answer: The extra household members are redistributed to other households

Each city in Utopia is limited to 6,000 households, and each household is limited to a minimum of ten people and a maximum of sixteen. People are redistributed among households to maintain this balance. If a city exceeds the maximum population, new colonies are set up on the mainland.

Answer: Fishing is the primary occupation of most of the citizenry

The primary occupation in Utopia is not fishing but agriculture. Each citizen learns how to farm and must live in the countryside and farm for two years at a time. In addition to agriculture, citizens are expected to learn a skilled trade.

Answer: Dressmaking

The fourth essential trade is metalsmithing. Weaving is mainly done by the women. Because people all wear the same types of simple clothes, there are no dressmakers on Utopia.

Answer: 6

This shortened, six-hour workday is sufficient for adequate production, however, because so few people are idle, and many citizens willingly work longer. Citizens receive an education through primary school. People who show exceptional ability during their primary education are allowed to become scholars, and from the scholars are drawn the priests (who are limited in number) and the ruling officials.

Answer: Chains and chamber pots

Utopia does not have coins or other currency. Gold is communal wealth in Utopia and is used for the chains of criminals and for chamber pots so that it will not invoke greed and the citizens will develop a healthy dislike of it. This communal wealth is only used to buy from foreign nations.

Answer: False

Each household has two slaves. Slaves are prisoners of war or drawn from among the criminals and are periodically released for good behavior.

Answer: Divorce - death

Divorce is permitted in Utopia. Premarital sex is punished by a lifetime of enforced celibacy, and adultery by enslavement. Utopia tolerates sun worshipers, moon worshipers, ancestor worshppers, and monotheists. Atheists, however, are despised, and although they are not banished, they are subjected to theological conversations with the priests, who attempt to convince them of their error.