Richard III: 3,702 Lines, 69 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Richard III (c. 1593) is a history with 3,702 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 25 scenes. 69 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 55% of the play. Dialogue splits 82% male and 18% female.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Gloucester: “Now is the winter of our discontent”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 5) with Richmond: “That she may long live here, God say amen!”

Full cast of Richard III by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Gloucester ♂	698	18.9%	3
2	King Richard Iii ♂	473	12.8%	2
3	Buckingham ♂	365	9.9%	5
4	Queen Elizabeth ♀	276	7.5%	3
5	Queen Margaret ♀	218	5.9%	2
6	Clarence ♂	163	4.4%	1
7	Lady Anne ♀	158	4.3%	2
8	Hastings ♂	144	3.9%	3
9	Duchess Of York ♂	142	3.8%	2
10	Richmond ♂	137	3.7%	1
11	King Edward Iv ♂	65	1.8%	1
12	Catesby ♂	63	1.7%	4
13	Derby ♂	62	1.7%	5
14	Second Murderer ♂	58	1.6%	1
15	First Murderer ♂	56	1.5%	1
16	Rivers ♂	51	1.4%	3
17	Prince Edward ♂	43	1.2%	1
18	York ♂	40	1.1%	2
19	Brakenbury ♂	39	1.1%	2
20	Tyrrel ♂	38	1.0%	1
21	Messenger ♂	30	0.8%	4
22	Ratcliff ♂	30	0.8%	3
23	Stanley ♂	30	0.8%	2
24	Third Citizen ♂	28	0.8%	1
25	Boy ♂	18	0.5%	1
…44 additional speaking roles with fewer than 18 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	4	1,080	18
Act 2	4	425	18
Act 3	7	836	23
Act 4	5	879	20
Act 5	5	482	25

Longest scenes in Richard III

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 4, Scene 4	560	11
Act 5, Scene 3	375	21
Act 1, Scene 3	362	11
Act 1, Scene 2	277	4
Act 1, Scene 4	276	5

Common questions

How long is Richard III?

Richard III contains 3,702 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 25 scenes — roughly 148 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Richard III?

Gloucester leads the cast with 698 lines — about 19% of the play.

Which act of Richard III is longest?

Act 1 runs 1,080 lines across 4 scenes.

Richard III