Mitarai Digital Folio
Romance • c. 1610

Cymbeline

3,755Lines 5Acts 26Scenes 40Characters 71% / 29%Male / Female Lines

Unusually for a Shakespeare romance, women carry 29% of the dialogue in Cymbeline (c. 1610) — 3,755 lines in total across 5 acts and 40 speaking characters.

Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — First Gentleman: “You do not meet a man but frowns: our bloods”

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

Full cast of Cymbeline by line count

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

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 518 289 36%
Act 2 424 100 19%
Act 3 470 370 44%
Act 4 524 110 17%
Act 5 721 229 24%

Female voices peak in Act 3 (44% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 4 (17%).

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
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

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 16 new speakers enter: Imogen, Posthumus Leonatus, Iachimo, Cymbeline, Cloten, Pisanio, Queen, Cornelius, First Gentleman, Second Lord (+6 more)
  • Act 2 — 2 new speakers enter: Messenger, Scene Iii
  • Act 3 — 9 new speakers enter: Belarius, Guiderius, Arviragus, Caius Lucius, First Senator, Attendant, First Tribune, Lords, Second Senator
  • Act 4 — 2 new speakers enter: Soothsayer, Captain
  • Act 5 — 11 new speakers enter: First Gaoler, Sicilius Leonatus, Jupiter, First Brother, Mother, Second Brother, Second Captain, Lord, First Captain, All (+1 more)

Scene length across the play

Across 26 scenes: 7 very short (under 50 lines), 9 short (50–149 lines), 8 mid-length (150–299 lines), 2 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 19 lines, the longest 582 lines, with a mean of about 144 lines per scene.

Line-length signature

Of 3,755 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.

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

How Cymbeline compares to Shakespeare’s other romances

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
Cymbeline (this play) c. 1610 3,755 5 26 40
Winter's Tale c. 1611 3,362 5 14 35
Pericles, Prince of Tyre c. 1608 2,416 5 22 46
The Tempest c. 1611 2,278 5 9 19

Common questions

How long is Cymbeline?

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

Who speaks the most in Cymbeline?

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

Which act of Cymbeline is longest?

Act 5 runs 950 lines across 5 scenes — noticeably heavier than the play’s other acts.

Which female character has the most lines in Cymbeline?

Imogen with 605 lines — about 16% of the play’s dialogue.
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