Much Ado About Nothing: 2,583 Lines, 23 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Much Ado About Nothing (c. 1599) is a comedy with 2,583 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 17 scenes. 23 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 63% of the play. Dialogue splits 80% male and 20% female.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Leonato: “I learn in this letter that Don Peter of Arragon”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 4) with Benedick: “I'll devise thee brave punishments for him.”

Full cast of Much Ado About Nothing by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Benedick ♂	432	16.7%	5
2	Leonato ♂	328	12.7%	5
3	Don Pedro ♂	313	12.1%	5
4	Claudio ♂	287	11.1%	5
5	Beatrice ♀	270	10.5%	5
6	Dogberry ♂	175	6.8%	3
7	Hero ♀	131	5.1%	5
8	Borachio ♂	123	4.8%	5
9	Don John ♂	107	4.1%	4
10	Friar Francis ♂	83	3.2%	2
11	Margaret ♀	62	2.4%	3
12	Antonio ♂	55	2.1%	3
13	Ursula ♀	48	1.9%	3
14	Conrade ♂	35	1.4%	3
15	Messenger ♂	30	1.2%	3
16	Balthasar ♂	28	1.1%	1
17	Verges ♂	25	1.0%	3
18	Watchman ♂	15	0.6%	2
19	Sexton ♂	15	0.6%	1
20	First Watchman ♂	10	0.4%	2
21	Second Watchman ♂	8	0.3%	2
22	Boy ♂	2	0.1%	1
23	Lord ♂	1	0.0%	1

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	3	384	11
Act 2	3	644	13
Act 3	5	547	17
Act 4	2	417	16
Act 5	4	591	15

Longest scenes in Much Ado About Nothing

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 2, Scene 1	347	12
Act 4, Scene 1	335	8
Act 5, Scene 1	334	8
Act 1, Scene 1	294	8
Act 2, Scene 3	247	7

Common questions

How long is Much Ado About Nothing?

Much Ado About Nothing contains 2,583 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 17 scenes — roughly 152 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Much Ado About Nothing?

Benedick leads the cast with 432 lines — about 17% of the play.

Which act of Much Ado About Nothing is longest?

Act 2 runs 644 lines across 3 scenes.

Much Ado About Nothing