Taming of the Shrew: 2,637 Lines, 37 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Taming of the Shrew (c. 1592) is a comedy with 2,637 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 14 scenes. 37 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 57% of the play. Dialogue splits 88% male and 12% female.

The play opens (Act 0, Scene 1) with Sly: “Ye are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues; look in”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 2) with Lucentio: “'Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so.”

Full cast of Taming of the Shrew by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Petruchio ♂	587	22.3%	5
2	Tranio ♂	293	11.1%	5
3	Katharina ♀	216	8.2%	5
4	Hortensio ♂	206	7.8%	5
5	Lucentio ♂	190	7.2%	4
6	Baptista ♂	175	6.6%	5
7	Grumio ♂	171	6.5%	3
8	Gremio ♂	170	6.4%	4
9	Lord ♂	138	5.2%	1
10	Biondello ♂	102	3.9%	4
11	Bianca ♀	71	2.7%	5
12	Sly ♂	63	2.4%	2
13	Pedant ♂	50	1.9%	2
14	Vincentio ♂	47	1.8%	2
15	Curtis ♂	25	0.9%	1
16	Tailor ♂	17	0.6%	1
17	Page ♂	16	0.6%	2
18	First Servant ♂	16	0.6%	3
19	Second Servant ♂	12	0.5%	1
20	Third Servant ♂	12	0.5%	1
21	Widow ♀	11	0.4%	1
22	First Huntsman ♂	9	0.3%	1
23	Messenger ♂	8	0.3%	1
24	Servant ♂	5	0.2%	2
25	A Player ♂	4	0.2%	1
…12 additional speaking roles with fewer than 4 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 0	2	282	14
Act 1	2	542	14
Act 2	1	423	7
Act 3	2	349	12
Act 4	5	708	20
Act 5	2	333	12

Longest scenes in Taming of the Shrew

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 2, Scene 1	423	7
Act 1, Scene 2	284	7
Act 1, Scene 1	258	12
Act 3, Scene 2	256	10
Act 5, Scene 2	201	11

Common questions

How long is Taming of the Shrew?

Taming of the Shrew contains 2,637 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 14 scenes — roughly 188 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Taming of the Shrew?

Petruchio leads the cast with 587 lines — about 22% of the play.

Which act of Taming of the Shrew is longest?

Act 4 runs 708 lines across 5 scenes.

Taming of the Shrew