Comedy • c. 1595
Love's Labours Lost
5 Acts
9 Scenes
2,862 Lines
Comedy • c. 1594
The Comedy of Errors
1,962Lines
5Acts
11Scenes
20Characters
74% / 26%Male / Female Lines
Unusually for a Shakespeare comedy, women carry 26% of the dialogue in The Comedy of Errors (c. 1594) — 1,962 lines in total across 5 acts and 20 speaking characters.
Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — Aegeon: “Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall”
Closes (Act 5, Scene 1) — Dromio Of Ephesus: “And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.”
Full cast of The Comedy of Errors by line count
| # | Character | Lines | Share | Acts | Scenes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dromio Of Syracuse ♂ | 314 | 16.0% | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Adriana ♀ | 275 | 14.0% | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Of Syracuse ♂ | 271 | 13.8% | 5 | 6 |
| 4 | Of Ephesus ♂ | 210 | 10.7% | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Dromio Of Ephesus ♂ | 187 | 9.5% | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Aegeon ♂ | 147 | 7.5% | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | Luciana ♀ | 105 | 5.4% | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | Angelo ♂ | 96 | 4.9% | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | Duke Solinus ♂ | 93 | 4.7% | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Aemelia ♀ | 73 | 3.7% | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Courtezan ♀ | 39 | 2.0% | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | Second Merchant ♂ | 38 | 1.9% | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Balthazar ♂ | 31 | 1.6% | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | First Merchant ♂ | 18 | 0.9% | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Officer ♂ | 16 | 0.8% | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Pinch ♂ | 16 | 0.8% | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Servant ♂ | 15 | 0.8% | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Luce ♀ | 11 | 0.6% | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Antipholus ♂ | 6 | 0.3% | 3 | 4 |
| 20 | Gaoler ♂ | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | 1 |
How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5
| Act | Male lines | Female lines | Female share | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act 1 | 274 | 0 | 0% | |
| Act 2 | 205 | 160 | 44% | |
| Act 3 | 319 | 58 | 15% | |
| Act 4 | 368 | 122 | 25% | |
| Act 5 | 293 | 163 | 36% |
Female voices peak in Act 2 (44% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 1 (0%).
Line counts act by act
| Act | Scenes | Lines | Speakers | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act 1 | 2 | 274 | 7 | |
| Act 2 | 2 | 365 | 5 | |
| Act 3 | 2 | 377 | 10 | |
| Act 4 | 4 | 490 | 12 | |
| Act 5 | 1 | 456 | 14 |
When each speaker first enters
- Act 1 — 7 new speakers enter: Dromio Of Syracuse, Of Syracuse, Dromio Of Ephesus, Aegeon, Duke Solinus, First Merchant, Gaoler
- Act 2 — 2 new speakers enter: Adriana, Luciana
- Act 3 — 5 new speakers enter: Of Ephesus, Angelo, Balthazar, Luce, Antipholus
- Act 4 — 4 new speakers enter: Courtezan, Second Merchant, Officer, Pinch
- Act 5 — 2 new speakers enter: Aemelia, Servant
Scene length across the play
Across 11 scenes: 5 short (50–149 lines), 5 mid-length (150–299 lines), 1 long (300+ lines).
The shortest scene runs 74 lines, the longest 456 lines, with a mean of about 178 lines per scene.
Line-length signature
Of 1,962 total lines: 99% short (under 60 characters, typical of quickfire exchanges), 1% 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 The Comedy of Errors
| Scene | Lines | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Act 5, Scene 1 | 456 | 14 |
| Act 2, Scene 2 | 249 | 4 |
| Act 3, Scene 2 | 211 | 5 |
| Act 4, Scene 4 | 184 | 10 |
| Act 3, Scene 1 | 166 | 8 |
How The Comedy of Errors compares to Shakespeare’s other comedies
| Play | Year | Lines | Acts | Scenes | Speakers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Comedy of Errors (this play) | c. 1594 | 1,962 | 5 | 11 | 20 |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | c. 1596 | 2,159 | 5 | 9 | 30 |
| Two Gentlemen of Verona | c. 1591 | 2,234 | 5 | 20 | 17 |
| Twelfth Night | c. 1601 | 2,483 | 5 | 18 | 18 |
| Much Ado About Nothing | c. 1599 | 2,583 | 5 | 17 | 23 |
Common questions
How long is The Comedy of Errors?
1,962 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 11 scenes — roughly 178 lines per scene.
Who speaks the most in The Comedy of Errors?
Dromio Of Syracuse with 314 lines — about 16% of the play.
Which female character has the most lines in The Comedy of Errors?
Adriana with 275 lines — about 14% of the play’s dialogue.