A Midsummer Night's Dream: 2,159 Lines, 30 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1596) is a comedy with 2,159 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 9 scenes. 30 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 51% of the play. The gender balance (60% male, 40% female) is unusually even for Shakespeare.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Theseus: “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 1) with Puck: “And Robin shall restore amends.”

Full cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Theseus ♂	233	10.8%	3
2	Helena ♀	229	10.6%	4
3	Oberon ♂	226	10.5%	4
4	Puck ♀	209	9.7%	4
5	Bottom ♂	204	9.4%	4
6	Lysander ♂	178	8.2%	5
7	Hermia ♀	165	7.6%	4
8	Titania ♀	158	7.3%	4
9	Demetrius ♂	134	6.2%	5
10	Quince ♂	83	3.8%	3
11	Pyramus ♂	56	2.6%	1
12	Egeus ♂	41	1.9%	2
13	Prologue ♂	35	1.6%	1
14	Hippolyta ♀	34	1.6%	3
15	Thisbe ♀	34	1.6%	1
16	Fairy ♀	30	1.4%	1
17	Philostrate ♂	24	1.1%	1
18	Flute ♂	23	1.1%	3
19	Wall ♂	12	0.6%	1
20	Lion ♂	9	0.4%	1
21	Snout ♂	7	0.3%	2
22	Snug ♂	6	0.3%	2
23	Moonshine ♂	6	0.3%	1
24	Mustardseed ♂	5	0.2%	2
25	Starveling ♂	5	0.2%	3
…5 additional speaking roles with fewer than 5 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	2	356	14
Act 2	2	429	8
Act 3	2	681	18
Act 4	2	265	18
Act 5	1	428	15

Longest scenes in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 3, Scene 2	486	7
Act 5, Scene 1	428	15
Act 2, Scene 1	273	6
Act 1, Scene 1	255	7
Act 4, Scene 1	224	14

Common questions

How long is A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

A Midsummer Night's Dream contains 2,159 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 9 scenes — roughly 240 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Theseus leads the cast with 233 lines — about 11% of the play.

Which act of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is longest?

Act 3 runs 681 lines across 2 scenes.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream