Mitarai Digital Folio
History • c. 1593

Richard III

3,702Lines 5Acts 25Scenes 69Characters 82% / 18%Male / Female Lines

Richard III (c. 1593) fields a crowded stage: 69 named speakers share 3,702 lines across 5 acts and 25 scenes.

Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — Gloucester: “Now is the winter of our discontent”

Closes (Act 5, Scene 5) — Richmond: “That she may long live here, God say amen!”

Full cast of Richard III by line count

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

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
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

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 18 new speakers enter: Gloucester, Buckingham, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Margaret, Clarence, Lady Anne, Hastings, Catesby, Derby, Second Murderer (+8 more)
  • Act 2 — 11 new speakers enter: Duchess Of York, King Edward Iv, York, Messenger, Third Citizen, Boy, Second Citizen, Archbishop Of York, First Citizen, Girl (+1 more)
  • Act 3 — 14 new speakers enter: Prince Edward, Ratcliff, Stanley, Lord Mayor, Lord Stanley, Scrivener, Cardinal, Bishop Of Ely, Lovel, Pursuivant (+4 more)
  • Act 4 — 7 new speakers enter: King Richard Iii, Tyrrel, Fourth Messenger, Christopher, Third Messenger, Page, Second Messenger
  • Act 5 — 19 new speakers enter: Richmond, Of Buckingham, Norfolk, Ghost Of Lady Anne, Of Young Princes, Ghost Of Clarence, Of Prince Edward, Blunt, Of King Henry Vi, Ghost Of Hastings (+9 more)

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 786 294 27%
Act 2 376 49 12%
Act 3 836 0 0%
Act 4 564 315 36%
Act 5 482 0 0%

Female voices peak in Act 4 (36% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 3 (0%).

Scene length across the play

Across 25 scenes: 8 very short (under 50 lines), 8 short (50–149 lines), 6 mid-length (150–299 lines), 3 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 13 lines, the longest 560 lines, with a mean of about 148 lines per scene.

Line-length signature

Of 3,702 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 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

How Richard III compares to Shakespeare’s other histories

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
Richard III (this play) c. 1593 3,702 5 25 69
Henry IV, part 2 c. 1598 3,251 5 20 47
Henry VIII c. 1613 3,236 5 17 46
Henry V c. 1599 3,230 5 28 46
Henry VI, part 2 c. 1591 3,122 5 24 64

Common questions

How long is Richard III?

3,702 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 25 scenes — roughly 148 lines per scene.

Who speaks the most in Richard III?

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

Which act of Richard III is longest?

Act 1 runs 1,080 lines across 4 scenes — noticeably heavier than the play’s other acts.
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