King Lear: 3,499 Lines, 26 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

King Lear (c. 1605) is a tragedy with 3,499 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 26 scenes. 26 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 62% of the play. Dialogue splits 85% male and 15% female.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Kent: “I thought the king had more affected the Duke of”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 3) with Albany: “Shall never see so much, nor live so long.”

Full cast of King Lear by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	King Lear ♂	752	21.5%	5
2	Edgar ♂	395	11.3%	5
3	Kent ♂	369	10.5%	5
4	Gloucester ♂	342	9.8%	5
5	Edmund ♂	319	9.1%	5
6	Fool ♂	227	6.5%	3
7	Goneril ♀	202	5.8%	5
8	Regan ♀	190	5.4%	5
9	Albany ♂	161	4.6%	3
10	Cordelia ♀	118	3.4%	3
11	Cornwall ♂	108	3.1%	3
12	Gentleman ♂	84	2.4%	5
13	Oswald ♂	76	2.2%	4
14	King Of France ♂	32	0.9%	1
15	Messenger ♂	19	0.5%	1
16	Doctor ♂	18	0.5%	1
17	Knight ♂	14	0.4%	1
18	Burgundy ♂	12	0.3%	1
19	Old Man ♂	11	0.3%	1
20	Herald ♂	10	0.3%	1
21	Curan ♂	9	0.3%	1
22	First Servant ♂	9	0.3%	1
23	Lear ♂	6	0.2%	1
24	Captain ♂	6	0.2%	1
25	Third Servant ♂	5	0.1%	1
…1 additional speaking roles with fewer than 5 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	5	951	17
Act 2	4	678	12
Act 3	7	630	14
Act 4	7	763	14
Act 5	3	477	12

Longest scenes in King Lear

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 5, Scene 3	386	11
Act 1, Scene 4	352	7
Act 2, Scene 4	339	8
Act 1, Scene 1	333	12
Act 4, Scene 6	314	5

Common questions

How long is King Lear?

King Lear contains 3,499 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 26 scenes — roughly 135 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in King Lear?

King Lear leads the cast with 752 lines — about 21% of the play.

Which act of King Lear is longest?

Act 1 runs 951 lines across 5 scenes.

King Lear