Richard II: 2,800 Lines, 35 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Richard II (c. 1595) is a history with 2,800 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 19 scenes. 35 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 64% of the play. Male voices dominate at 94% — female speakers deliver only 6%.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with King Richard Ii: “Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lancaster,”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 6) with Henry Bolingbroke: “In weeping after this untimely bier.”

Full cast of Richard II by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	King Richard Ii ♂	758	27.1%	5
2	Henry Bolingbroke ♂	413	14.8%	5
3	Duke Of York ♂	290	10.4%	4
4	John Of Gaunt ♂	191	6.8%	2
5	Northumberland ♂	142	5.1%	4
6	Thomas Mowbray ♂	135	4.8%	1
7	Queen ♀	115	4.1%	3
8	Duchess Of York ♂	94	3.4%	1
9	Duke Of Aumerle ♂	85	3.0%	4
10	Bishop Of Carlisle ♂	63	2.3%	2
11	Duchess ♀	58	2.1%	1
12	Gardener ♂	52	1.9%	1
13	Henry Percy ♂	45	1.6%	4
14	Bushy ♂	39	1.4%	3
15	Sir Stephen Scroop ♂	37	1.3%	1
16	Green ♂	32	1.1%	3
17	Lord Fitzwater ♂	27	1.0%	2
18	Lord Marshal ♂	25	0.9%	1
19	Lord Ross ♂	22	0.8%	1
20	Bagot ♂	22	0.8%	2
21	Exton ♂	21	0.8%	1
22	Earl Of Salisbury ♂	20	0.7%	2
23	Servant ♂	17	0.6%	3
24	Captain ♂	15	0.5%	1
25	Groom ♂	12	0.4%	1
…10 additional speaking roles with fewer than 12 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	4	656	12
Act 2	4	649	16
Act 3	4	590	15
Act 4	1	340	12
Act 5	6	565	13

Longest scenes in Richard II

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 4, Scene 1	340	12
Act 1, Scene 3	310	8
Act 2, Scene 1	301	7
Act 3, Scene 2	220	5
Act 3, Scene 3	215	6

Common questions

How long is Richard II?

Richard II contains 2,800 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 19 scenes — roughly 147 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Richard II?

King Richard Ii leads the cast with 758 lines — about 27% of the play.

Which act of Richard II is longest?

Act 1 runs 656 lines across 4 scenes.

Richard II