Mitarai Digital Folio
Tragedy • c. 1595

Romeo and Juliet

3,079Lines 5Acts 25Scenes 35Characters 69% / 31%Male / Female Lines

Unusually for a Shakespeare tragedy, women carry 31% of the dialogue in Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595) — 3,079 lines in total across 5 acts and 35 speaking characters.

Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — Sampson: “Gregory, o' my word, we'll not carry coals.”

Closes (Act 5, Scene 3) — Prince: “Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

Full cast of Romeo and Juliet by line count

# Character Lines Share Acts Scenes
1 Romeo ♂ 612 19.9% 4 14
2 Juliet ♀ 544 17.7% 5 11
3 Friar Laurence ♂ 351 11.4% 4 7
4 Nurse ♀ 281 9.1% 4 11
5 Capulet ♂ 273 8.9% 4 9
6 Mercutio ♂ 261 8.5% 3 4
7 Benvolio ♂ 160 5.2% 3 7
8 Prince ♂ 76 2.5% 3 3
9 Paris ♂ 70 2.3% 4 5
10 Montague ♂ 41 1.3% 3 3
11 Tybalt ♂ 36 1.2% 2 3
12 Peter ♂ 33 1.1% 2 2
13 Balthasar ♂ 32 1.0% 1 2
14 Sampson ♂ 31 1.0% 1 1
15 Servant ♂ 23 0.7% 1 3
16 Gregory ♂ 20 0.6% 1 1
17 First Watchman ♂ 19 0.6% 1 1
18 Chorus ♂ 14 0.5% 1 1
19 Friar John ♂ 13 0.4% 1 1
20 Second Servant ♂ 12 0.4% 2 3
21 First Servant ♂ 10 0.3% 2 2
22 Page ♂ 9 0.3% 1 1
23 First Musician ♂ 9 0.3% 1 1
24 Apothecary ♂ 7 0.2% 1 1
25 First Citizen ♂ 6 0.2% 2 2
…9 additional speaking roles with fewer than 6 lines

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 581 144 20%
Act 2 426 259 38%
Act 3 472 349 43%
Act 4 237 170 42%
Act 5 422 19 4%

Female voices peak in Act 3 (43% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 5 (4%).

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
Act 1 5 725 20
Act 2 7 685 8
Act 3 5 821 13
Act 4 5 407 14
Act 5 3 441 15

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 19 new speakers enter: Romeo, Juliet, Nurse, Capulet, Mercutio, Benvolio, Prince, Paris, Montague, Tybalt (+9 more)
  • Act 2 — 3 new speakers enter: Friar Laurence, Peter, Chorus
  • Act 4 — 5 new speakers enter: First Musician, Second Musician, Lady Capulet, Third Musician, Musician
  • Act 5 — 7 new speakers enter: Balthasar, First Watchman, Friar John, Page, Apothecary, Third Watchman, Second Watchman

Scene length across the play

Across 25 scenes: 7 very short (under 50 lines), 10 short (50–149 lines), 7 mid-length (150–299 lines), 1 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 14 lines, the longest 321 lines, with a mean of about 123 lines per scene.

Line-length signature

Of 3,079 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 Romeo and Juliet

Scene Lines Speakers
Act 5, Scene 3 321 13
Act 3, Scene 5 255 5
Act 1, Scene 1 238 12
Act 2, Scene 4 208 5
Act 2, Scene 2 204 3

How Romeo and Juliet compares to Shakespeare’s other tragedies

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
Romeo and Juliet (this play) c. 1595 3,079 5 25 35
King Lear c. 1605 3,499 5 26 26
Othello c. 1604 3,558 5 15 28
Julius Caesar c. 1599 2,599 5 18 51
Antony and Cleopatra c. 1606 3,565 5 42 54

Common questions

How long is Romeo and Juliet?

3,079 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 25 scenes — roughly 123 lines per scene.

Who speaks the most in Romeo and Juliet?

Romeo with 612 lines — about 20% of the play.

Which act of Romeo and Juliet is longest?

Act 3 runs 821 lines across 5 scenes — noticeably heavier than the play’s other acts.

Which female character has the most lines in Romeo and Juliet?

Juliet with 544 lines — about 18% of the play’s dialogue.
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