King John: 2,648 Lines, 28 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

King John (c. 1596) is a history with 2,648 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 16 scenes. 28 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 60% of the play. Dialogue splits 86% male and 14% female.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with King John: “Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us?”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 7) with Bastard: “If England to itself do rest but true.”

Full cast of King John by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Bastard ♂	523	19.8%	5
2	King John ♂	441	16.7%	5
3	Constance ♀	264	10.0%	2
4	King Philip ♂	193	7.3%	2
5	Cardinal Pandulph ♂	164	6.2%	2
6	Salisbury ♂	158	6.0%	3
7	Lewis ♂	154	5.8%	3
8	Hubert ♂	141	5.3%	3
9	Arthur ♂	120	4.5%	3
10	Pembroke ♂	79	3.0%	2
11	First Citizen ♂	64	2.4%	1
12	Queen Elinor ♀	53	2.0%	3
13	Blanch ♀	42	1.6%	2
14	Chatillon ♂	41	1.5%	2
15	Melun ♂	39	1.5%	1
16	Austria ♂	34	1.3%	2
17	Prince Henry ♂	30	1.1%	1
18	Messenger ♂	28	1.1%	2
19	Robert ♂	22	0.8%	1
20	Lady Faulconbridge ♀	15	0.6%	1
21	English Herald ♂	13	0.5%	1
22	French Herald ♂	12	0.5%	1
23	Bigot ♂	9	0.3%	1
24	Essex ♂	3	0.1%	1
25	Elinor ♂	2	0.1%	1
…3 additional speaking roles with fewer than 2 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	1	278	8
Act 2	1	609	13
Act 3	4	635	13
Act 4	3	589	10
Act 5	7	537	10

Longest scenes in King John

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 2, Scene 1	609	13
Act 3, Scene 1	355	11
Act 1, Scene 1	278	8
Act 4, Scene 2	277	7
Act 3, Scene 4	185	4

Common questions

How long is King John?

King John contains 2,648 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 16 scenes — roughly 166 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in King John?

Bastard leads the cast with 523 lines — about 20% of the play.

Which act of King John is longest?

Act 3 runs 635 lines across 4 scenes.

King John