Mitarai Digital Folio
History • c. 1596

King John

2,648Lines 5Acts 16Scenes 28Characters 86% / 14%Male / Female Lines

Written in Shakespeare’s middle-period career (c. 1596), King John is a history of 2,648 lines, 5 acts and 16 scenes with 28 speaking roles.

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

Closes (Act 5, Scene 7) — Bastard: “If England to itself do rest but true.”

Full cast of King John by line count

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

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
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

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 8 new speakers enter: Bastard, King John, Queen Elinor, Chatillon, Robert, Lady Faulconbridge, Essex, Gurney
  • Act 2 — 9 new speakers enter: Constance, King Philip, Lewis, Arthur, First Citizen, Blanch, Austria, English Herald, French Herald
  • Act 3 — 4 new speakers enter: Cardinal Pandulph, Salisbury, Hubert, Elinor
  • Act 4 — 5 new speakers enter: Pembroke, Messenger, Bigot, First Executioner, Peter
  • Act 5 — 2 new speakers enter: Melun, Prince Henry

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 234 44 16%
Act 2 525 84 14%
Act 3 389 246 39%
Act 4 589 0 0%
Act 5 537 0 0%

Female voices peak in Act 3 (39% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 4 (0%).

Scene length across the play

Across 16 scenes: 4 very short (under 50 lines), 5 short (50–149 lines), 5 mid-length (150–299 lines), 2 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 11 lines, the longest 609 lines, with a mean of about 166 lines per scene.

Line-length signature

Of 2,648 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 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

How King John compares to Shakespeare’s other histories

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
King John (this play) c. 1596 2,648 5 16 28
Henry VI, part 1 c. 1592 2,761 5 27 52
Richard II c. 1595 2,800 5 19 35
Henry VI, part 3 c. 1591 2,931 5 28 46
Henry IV, part 1 c. 1597 3,038 5 18 36

Common questions

How long is King John?

2,648 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 16 scenes — roughly 166 lines per scene.

Who speaks the most in King John?

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

Which female character has the most lines in King John?

Constance with 264 lines — about 10% of the play’s dialogue.
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