Mitarai Digital Folio
Tragedy • c. 1608

Coriolanus

3,761Lines 5Acts 29Scenes 61Characters 90% / 10%Male / Female Lines

Coriolanus (c. 1608) fields a crowded stage: 61 named speakers share 3,761 lines across 5 acts and 29 scenes.

Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — First Citizen: “Before we proceed any further, hear me speak.”

Closes (Act 5, Scene 6) — Aufidius: “Yet he shall have a noble memory. Assist.”

Full cast of Coriolanus by line count

# Character Lines Share Acts Scenes
1 Coriolanus ♂ 680 18.1% 5 13
2 Menenius ♂ 589 15.7% 5 13
3 Volumnia ♀ 314 8.3% 5 6
4 Sicinius ♂ 305 8.1% 5 10
5 Cominius ♂ 286 7.6% 5 11
6 Aufidius ♂ 275 7.3% 3 8
7 Brutus ♂ 247 6.6% 5 9
8 Marcius ♂ 218 5.8% 1 6
9 First Senator ♂ 90 2.4% 4 9
10 First Citizen ♂ 79 2.1% 4 4
11 Third Citizen ♂ 57 1.5% 2 2
12 Lartius ♂ 54 1.4% 2 5
13 Third Servingman ♂ 49 1.3% 1 1
14 Valeria ♀ 41 1.1% 2 2
15 Messenger ♂ 38 1.0% 4 6
16 Second Servingman ♂ 35 0.9% 1 1
17 Virgilia ♀ 35 0.9% 4 5
18 First Servingman ♂ 31 0.8% 1 1
19 Roman ♂ 29 0.8% 1 1
20 Second Citizen ♂ 25 0.7% 3 3
21 Citizens ♂ 24 0.6% 3 4
22 Second Officer ♂ 22 0.6% 1 1
23 Second Senator ♂ 20 0.5% 3 3
24 Volsce ♂ 20 0.5% 1 1
25 Second Messenger ♂ 20 0.5% 2 2
…36 additional speaking roles with fewer than 20 lines

Scene length across the play

Across 29 scenes: 8 very short (under 50 lines), 10 short (50–149 lines), 10 mid-length (150–299 lines), 1 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 7 lines, the longest 422 lines, with a mean of about 130 lines per scene.

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
Act 1 10 842 25
Act 2 3 762 27
Act 3 3 764 15
Act 4 7 707 24
Act 5 6 686 24

Longest scenes in Coriolanus

Scene Lines Speakers
Act 3, Scene 1 422 13
Act 1, Scene 1 298 11
Act 2, Scene 1 291 12
Act 2, Scene 3 283 15
Act 4, Scene 5 236 6

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 731 111 13%
Act 2 717 45 6%
Act 3 687 77 10%
Act 4 660 47 7%
Act 5 575 111 16%

Female voices peak in Act 5 (16% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 2 (6%).

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 25 new speakers enter: Coriolanus, Menenius, Volumnia, Sicinius, Cominius, Aufidius, Brutus, Marcius, First Senator, First Citizen (+15 more)
  • Act 2 — 14 new speakers enter: Third Citizen, Citizens, Second Officer, First Officer, Fourth Citizen, Herald, Both, Seventh Citizen, Fifth Citizen, Sixth Citizen (+4 more)
  • Act 3 — 4 new speakers enter: Aedile, Both Tribunes, A Patrician, Second Patrician
  • Act 4 — 7 new speakers enter: Third Servingman, Second Servingman, First Servingman, Roman, Volsce, Second Messenger, Citizen
  • Act 5 — 11 new speakers enter: First Lord, Third Conspirator, Second Lord, First Conspirator, Second Conspirator, All The People, Lords, Third Lord, All Conspirators, Young Marcius (+1 more)

Line-length signature

Of 3,761 total lines: 100% short (under 60 characters, typical of quickfire exchanges), 0% mid-length (60–180 characters), and 0% extended (over 180 characters). That makes this a fast-cut play — the text is dominated by brief exchanges and retorts.

How Coriolanus compares to Shakespeare’s other tragedies

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
Coriolanus (this play) c. 1608 3,761 5 29 61
Antony and Cleopatra c. 1606 3,565 5 42 54
Othello c. 1604 3,558 5 15 28
Hamlet c. 1600 4,023 5 20 37
King Lear c. 1605 3,499 5 26 26

Common questions

How long is Coriolanus?

3,761 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 29 scenes — roughly 130 lines per scene.

Who speaks the most in Coriolanus?

Coriolanus with 680 lines — about 18% of the play.

Which female character has the most lines in Coriolanus?

Volumnia with 314 lines — about 8% of the play’s dialogue.
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