The Merchant of Venice: 2,665 Lines, 23 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

The Merchant of Venice (c. 1597) is a comedy with 2,665 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 19 scenes. 23 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 62% of the play. The gender balance (72% male, 28% female) is unusually even for Shakespeare.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Antonio: “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad:”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 1) with Gratiano: “So sore as keeping safe Nerissa's ring.”

Full cast of The Merchant of Venice by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Portia ♀	589	22.1%	5
2	Shylock ♂	355	13.3%	4
3	Bassanio ♂	336	12.6%	5
4	Antonio ♂	189	7.1%	5
5	Lorenzo ♂	179	6.7%	4
6	Gratiano ♂	175	6.6%	5
7	Launcelot ♂	168	6.3%	3
8	Salarino ♂	104	3.9%	3
9	Morocco ♂	103	3.9%	1
10	Jessica ♀	86	3.2%	3
11	Nerissa ♀	84	3.2%	5
12	Arragon ♂	65	2.4%	1
13	Duke ♂	57	2.1%	1
14	Salanio ♂	56	2.1%	3
15	Gobbo ♂	37	1.4%	1
16	Salerio ♂	24	0.9%	2
17	Servant ♂	17	0.6%	3
18	Clerk ♂	17	0.6%	1
19	Tubal ♂	12	0.5%	1
20	Stephano ♂	8	0.3%	1
21	Leonardo ♂	2	0.1%	1
22	All ♂	1	0.0%	1
23	Balthasar ♂	1	0.0%	1

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	2	500	10
Act 2	9	677	16
Act 3	5	667	16
Act 4	2	495	9
Act 5	1	326	9

Longest scenes in The Merchant of Venice

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 4, Scene 1	473	9
Act 3, Scene 2	336	8
Act 5, Scene 1	326	9
Act 1, Scene 1	317	9
Act 2, Scene 2	201	5

Common questions

How long is The Merchant of Venice?

The Merchant of Venice contains 2,665 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 19 scenes — roughly 140 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in The Merchant of Venice?

Portia leads the cast with 589 lines — about 22% of the play.

Which act of The Merchant of Venice is longest?

Act 2 runs 677 lines across 9 scenes.

The Merchant of Venice