Jonathan Wild MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 9, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

Jonathan Wild MCQs

1. What is the novel’s core distinction?

A. History versus fiction
B. Goodness versus greatness
C. Heroism and vice
D. Virtue and villainy

B. Goodness versus greatness.
The novel aims to differentiate greatness, often involving mischief, from true goodness, which removes it from mànkind.

2. What instruction can be learned from studying biographers like Plutarch?

A. Praise all characters
B. Censure figures quickly
C. Judge characters accurately
D. Imitate all virtues

C. Judge characters accurately.
Biographers teach not to praise or censure hastily, since characters often show a mixture of good and evil.

3. What type of character is Jonathan Wild described as?

A. Absolutely pure
B. Consummately perfect
C. Entirely free from defects
D. Neither wholly good nor bad

D. Neither wholly good nor bad.
He is described as a ‘mixed kind’ of character, having admirable qualities obscured by flaws.

4. What, according to the narrator’s specific definition, constitutes greatness?

A. Removing all mischief
B. Being perfectly moral
C. Bringing mischief on mànkind
D. Acting benevolently

C. Bringing mischief on mànkind.
Greatness is defined as bringing all manner of mischief on mànkind, contrasting goodness.
5. Which historical figure is criticised for having “sneaking qualities” like clemency?

A. Henry III
B. Wolfstan Wild
C. Julius Caesar
D. Geoffry Snap

C. Julius Caesar.
Caesar and Alexander are critiqued for having sneaking qualities like benevolence and generosity, obscuring their glory.

6. Which ancestor mistook a command to draw swords for a command to steal purses?

A. Wolfstan Wild
B. Edward Wild
C. Jonathan Wild
D. James Wild

A. Wolfstan Wild.
Wolfstan Wild mistook the Saxon signal Nemet eour Saxes for Nemet her sacs (take their purses).

7. What was Wild Langfanger’s great skill?

A. Fighting bravely
B. Drawing out a purse
C. Inventing instruments
D. Writing epitaphs

B. Drawing out a purse.
Langfanger could skillfully extract a purse from garments without the proprietor’s knowledge, earning his surname.

8. What happened to Wild Langfanger?

A. Promoted by Henry III
B. Suffered for his country
C. Joined Sir John Falstaff
D. Died peacefully abroad

B. Suffered for his country.
Langfanger was the first of his family to have the honour of suffering for the good of his country, suggesting he was hanged.

9. What was the occupation of Geoffry Snap?

A. Merchant of Yorkshire
B. Antiquarian
C. Office under High Sheriff
D. Army captain

C. Office under the High Sheriff.
Geoffrey Snap enjoyed a reputable office under the high sheriff of London and Middlesex, acquiring a handsome fortune.
10. What unusual appetite did Wild’s mother have during her pregnancy?

A. Longed for gold
B. Longed for sweets
C. Longed for everything she saw
D. Longed for fresh fruit

C. Longed for everything she saw.
During pregnancy, she constantly longed for everything she saw, wanting to enjoy it secretly.

11. What difficult letters did young Wild master first?

A. TH
B. QK
C. SZ
D. BD

A. TH.
The letters TH were the most difficult to pronounce, yet they were the first letters the young Wild mastered.

12. How was young Wild usually brought to compliance?

A. By stern words
B. By school-learning
C. By a sugar-plum
D. By strong force

C. By a sugar-plum.
Young Master Wild, though not complying under fear, could always be bribed by a sugar-plum.

13. In school robberies, what was Wild’s usual role?

A. Treasurer of booty
B. Executing the design
C. Information target
D. Primary plunderer

A. Treasurer of booty.
Wild was usually the concerter of the scheme and held the collected booty as its treasurer.

14. What prediction did Wild’s master make about his future career?

A. Step toward Parnassus
B. Step toward great learning
C. Step toward the gallows
D. Step toward wealth

C. Step toward the gallows.
The master predicted that taking the Gradus ad Parnassum would eventually lead to the gallows.
15. What ancient practice did Wild praise Achilles for?

A. Great kindness
B. Releasing prisoners for money
C. Building great ships
D. Defeating Hector

B. Releasing prisoners for money.
Wild admired Achilles binding Priam’s sons and then releasing them in exchange for a sum of money.

16. Who was Wild’s favourite dramatic work or play?

A. The Iliad
B. The Cheats of Scapin
C. The Spanish Rogue
D. Aeneid

B. The Cheats of Scapin.
Wild’s favourite play was The Cheats of Scapin, while The Spanish Rogue was his favourite book.

17. Why did Mr Snap confine Count La Ruse?

A. Debt for clothes
B. Assaulting Mr Wild
C. Gambling losses
D. Fleeing the country

A. Debt for clothes.
Count La Ruse was arrested by Snap because he owed money for suits of clothing to a tailor.

18. What game did the Count and the Miss Snaps often play?

A. Whisk and swabbers
B. Chess
C. Hazard
D. Patience

A. Whisk and swabbers.
The count and the Miss Snaps needed a fourth person to play Whisk and swabbers, a popular game.

19. How did Wild demonstrate superior skill over the Count?

A. He played fairly
B. He played the whole game
C. He always won his opponent’s pocket
D. He was perfectly dressed

C. He always won his opponent’s pocket.
Wild never failed to take money from the highly skilled Count, demonstrating ingenuity in stealing.
20. What cemented the friendship between Wild and the Count?

A. Mutual interest
B. Shared women
C. Gaming profits
D. Similar background

A. Mutual interest.
Their friendship was cemented by mutual interest, which the narrator notes lasts longer than other bonds.

21. What did Wild prefer over being at the bottom of the highest rank?

A. Serving the King
B. Bottom of Parnassus
C. Head of the lowest class
D. Obscurity

C. Head of the lowest class.
Wild preferred being at the head of the lowest class rather than at the bottom of the highest rank.

22. What analogy did Wild use to show the equivalence of different jobs?

A. A guinea’s value
B. A soldier’s pay
C. A tune’s key
D. A horse’s harness

C. A tune’s key.
The same abilities qualify a man for high or low eminence, like playing the same tune in different keys.

23. What outcome did the Count say a statesman achieves but a prig risks?

A. Fame on the block
B. Honour in gaol
C. End at Tyburn
D. Riches quickly

C. End at Tyburn.
The Count notes that a statesman risks Tower Hill, while a thief (prig) risks Tyburn, which sees more people.

24. How did Wild profit when the Count fell asleep during their philosophical debate?

A. Stole his clothing
B. Picked his pocket
C. Made an escape
D. Bribed a servant

B. Picked his pocket.
When the Count fell fast asleep, Wild picked his pocket of three shillings before leaving the tavern.
25. How did Wild suggest the Count secure his escape from Snap’s house?

A. Bribery of the maid
B. Breaking the lock
C. Fighting the guard
D. Using a post-horse

A. Bribery of the maid.
Wild advised the Count to apply bribery to the maid, calling it the surest means of procuring escape.

26. Where did Wild’s father send him to travel for seven years?

A. France and Italy
B. Norway and Greenland
C. American colonies
D. Westminster-hall

C. American colonies.
Wild’s father sent him to the plantations in America, believing the environment was safer for his morals.

27. Who did Wild advise to rob the Count after he won money at hazard?

A. Mr. Snap
B. Bob Bagshot
C. Thomas Thimble
D. Miss Laetitia

B. Bob Bagshot.
Wild advised his acquaintance, Bob Bagshot, to attack and rob the Count on his way home.

28. What philosophical argument did Wild use to claim the largest share of the booty?

A. Might makes right
B. The labourer’s hire
C. Schemes are paramount
D. The law permits it

B. The labourer’s hire.
Wild argued that Bagshot, the executor, was only entitled to the labourer’s hire, while the planner (Wild) got the profit.

29. How did Miss Tishy (Laetitia) resist Wild’s advances?

A. Using her wits
B. Screaming for help
C. Striking him with her nails
D. Calling Mr Bagshot

C. Striking him with her nails.
Laetitia used the ‘arms’ at the ends of her fingers to scratch Wild’s face violently during his advances.
30. Who was Laetitia’s secret lover, hidden in the closet?

A. Tom Smirk
B. Bob Bagshot
C. Mr. Snap
D. John Doe

A. Tom Smirk.
Laetitia let out Tom Smirk, an attorney’s clerk who was a noted beau, from the closet.

31. What did Wild fear the Count might pursue against Bagshot?

A. Seeking vengeance
B. Law and prosecution
C. Asking for reimbursement
D. Confining him again

B. Law and prosecution.
Wild dissuaded the Count from applying to a justice, warning of the cost and notoriety of prosecution.

32. What did Bagshot accuse the military gentleman of being at the gaming table?

A. A spy
B. A liar
C. A pick-pocket
D. A cheat

C. A pick-pocket.
Bagshot noticed the gentleman dipping into his pocket and publicly called him a pick-pocket.

33. According to Wild, in what does honour truly consist?

A. Acting virtuously
B. Being called a man of honour
C. Never lying
D. Showing clemency

B. Being called a man of honour.
Wild asserts that a man of honour is he who is called a man of honour, and no longer.

34. What, for Wild, is the first principle of great men?

A. Contentment
B. Noble avidity
C. Humility
D. Good-nature

B. Noble avidity.
This noble avidity, or restless, amiable disposition, is identified as the first constituent quality of great men.
35. What profession did Thomas Heartfree hold?

A. Lawyer
B. Jeweller
C. Soldier
D. Sailor

B. Jeweller.
Mr Thomas Heartfree, Wild’s old school-friend, was a jeweller who had recently set up in trade.

36. What quality was considered Heartfree’s great weakness?

A. Being too honest
B. Being too generous
C. Being too trusting
D. All of the above

D. All of the above.
Heartfree was afflicted with several great weaknesses, including good-naturedness, generosity, and excessive friendship.

37. How much money did Wild extract from Bagshot by threatening him with prosecution?

A. Ten guineas
B. Twenty-one guineas and a half
C. Five hundred pounds
D. The entire booty

B. Twenty-one guineas and a half.
Wild convinced Bagshot to hand over twenty-one guineas and a half by threatening to have him apprehended immediately.

38. What was the ‘superlative degree of greatness’ in the scheme against Heartfree?

A. Robbing the count
B. Using the Count to cheat Heartfree
C. Cheating his own tools
D. Stealing the jewels

C. Cheating his own tools.
Cheating the very tools (the Count) used to cheat others is described as the superlative degree of greatness.

39. What object did the Count take at the first meeting with Heartfree?

A. A diamond solitaire
B. A single brilliant
C. A necklace
D. A gold snuff-box

B. A single brilliant.
The Count took only a single brilliant worth about three hundred pounds at their first interview.
40. Who stole the money from Heartfree after he left the Count?

A. Miss Molly Straddle
B. Count La Ruse
C. Wild’s gang members
D. Miss Laetitia

C. Wild’s gang members.
Two of Wild’s gang members attacked Heartfree on his return trip, stealing the thousand pounds received from the Count.

41. What did the casket Wild offered Laetitia actually contain?

A. The real jewels
B. Counterfeit paste jewels
C. Gold buttons
D. Nothing at all

B. Counterfeit paste jewels.
The Count, fearing Wild, had replaced the real jewels with artificial paste stones before Wild took the casket.

42. What supported Wild during his soliloquy in the night-cellar?

A. The inward glory
B. His ambition’s success
C. The Count’s money
D. His future plans

A. The inward glory.
Wild concluded that the secret consciousness of doing great actions supports the truly great man.

43. Whom did Wild convince Molly Straddle to inform against regarding the stolen note?

A. James Sly
B. Thomas Fierce
C. The Count
D. Heartfree

B. Thomas Fierce.
Wild instructed Miss Straddle to swear that she received the stolen bank-note from one Thomas Fierce.

44. What consequence did Wild bring upon his tool, Thomas Fierce, who refused to share the full booty?

A. He was forgiven
B. He was promoted
C. He was impeached and executed
D. He was publicly humiliated

C. He was impeached and executed.
Fierce was convicted on the evidence of Miss Straddle and Sly, and then executed.
45. Heartfree refused Wild’s escape plan involving murder because he primarily valued what?

A. His life
B. His family
C. A good conscience
D. His liberty

C. A good conscience.
Heartfree declared he valued a good conscience infinitely beyond liberty and life itself.

46. How did Wild and Laetitia agree to proceed after their violent quarrel?

A. Live like strangers
B. Divorce immediately
C. Be civil and separate
D. Renew their love

C. Be civil and separate.
They resolved to shake hands, be civil, and never again live like man and wife.

47. What was Heartfree doing when the officers came to arrest him for a felony?

A. Reading letters
B. Embracing his children
C. Sleeping
D. Arguing with Friendly

B. Embracing his children.
The officers found Heartfree meaningfully diverting himself with his little children when they arrived.

48. What surprising act of violence did Wild suffer at the Old Bailey?

A. An early execution
B. An attack by Blueskin
C. Public applause
D. A change of sentence

B. An attack by Blueskin.
Blueskin, angry at Wild for his conviction, stabbed Wild with a knife at the Old Bailey.

49. What physical object did Wild strip from Johnson after becoming the chief prig of Newgate?

A. A gold watch
B. A silk nightgown
C. A silver snuff-box
D. A velvet hat

B. A silk nightgown.
Wild stripped Johnson of his finery, including a silk nightgown, calling it the winding-sheet of Newgate liberties.
50. What ultimate act of greatness did Wild perform at the very end of his life?

A. Forgave his enemies
B. Escaped the gallows
C. Emptied the Ordinary’s pocket
D. Professed repentance

C. Emptied the Ordinary’s pocket.
Wild picked the Ordinary’s pocket of his bottle-screw while under the gallows, maintaining character to the last.

Brief Overview

The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great is a satirical novel by Henry Fielding, published in 1743. The novel uses the life of a notorious, real-life criminal to offer a scathing critique of corruption in 18th-century English society and politics.

The novel is centered on the villain, Jonathan Wild. The author sarcastically calls him “the Great” because Wild exemplifies a destructive, ambitious criminal, or “prig.” Wild operates under the philosophy that true greatness is achieved by causing maximum harm and mischief to others.

Wild begins a plot to ruin his good-natured friend, Thomas Heartfree, a jeweller. Wild uses Count La Ruse to buy expensive jewels from Heartfree on credit. Wild then orchestrates a robbery, stealing the money Heartfree did receive.

Wild marries a dishonest woman named Laetitia Snap, and their marriage is defined by hate and constant fighting.

Wild then falsely frames Heartfree for stealing his own goods to cheat his creditors. Wild also attempts to steal Mrs. Heartfree and her remaining valuables, but she narrowly escapes him at sea.

Heartfree is convicted using false witnesses. Just moments before Heartfree is hanged, one witness, Fireblood, confesses to the plot, and Heartfree is dramatically saved. Wild is soon arrested and sentenced to death. He is finally hanged at Tyburn, achieving the “glorious” criminal end he constantly desired. Heartfree and his wife are happily reunited and continue to live virtuous lives.

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