Cymbeline: 3,755 Lines, 40 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Cymbeline (c. 1610) is a romance with 3,755 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 26 scenes. 40 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 56% of the play. The gender balance (71% male, 29% female) is unusually even for Shakespeare.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with First Gentleman: “You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 5) with Cymbeline: “Ere bloody hands were wash'd, with such a peace.”

Full cast of Cymbeline by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Imogen ♀	605	16.1%	5
2	Posthumus Leonatus ♂	442	11.8%	3
3	Iachimo ♂	430	11.5%	3
4	Belarius ♂	346	9.2%	3
5	Cymbeline ♀	296	7.9%	5
6	Cloten ♂	270	7.2%	4
7	Pisanio ♂	218	5.8%	5
8	Guiderius ♂	170	4.5%	3
9	Queen ♀	170	4.5%	3
10	Arviragus ♂	145	3.9%	3
11	Caius Lucius ♂	105	2.8%	3
12	Cornelius ♂	74	2.0%	2
13	First Gentleman ♂	67	1.8%	1
14	Second Lord ♂	45	1.2%	2
15	First Gaoler ♂	45	1.2%	1
16	Soothsayer ♂	43	1.1%	2
17	Philario ♂	42	1.1%	2
18	Sicilius Leonatus ♂	40	1.1%	1
19	First Lord ♂	39	1.0%	3
20	Frenchman ♂	22	0.6%	1
21	Jupiter ♂	21	0.6%	1
22	First Senator ♂	15	0.4%	1
23	First Brother ♂	14	0.4%	1
24	Second Gentleman ♂	13	0.3%	1
25	Lady ♀	13	0.3%	2
…15 additional speaking roles with fewer than 13 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	6	807	16
Act 2	4	524	13
Act 3	7	840	14
Act 4	4	634	11
Act 5	5	950	24

Longest scenes in Cymbeline

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 5, Scene 5	582	12
Act 4, Scene 2	489	8
Act 1, Scene 6	243	3
Act 2, Scene 2	231	11
Act 3, Scene 4	221	2

Common questions

How long is Cymbeline?

Cymbeline contains 3,755 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 26 scenes — roughly 144 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Cymbeline?

Imogen leads the cast with 605 lines — about 16% of the play.

Which act of Cymbeline is longest?

Act 5 runs 950 lines across 5 scenes.

Cymbeline