The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5
306Lines
5Scenes
13Speakers
80% / 20%Male / Female Lines
Act 5 is one of the play’s shorter acts — 306 lines across just 5 scenes, well below the play-wide average of about 523 lines per act.
Opens (Scene 1) — Falstaff: “Prithee, no more prattling; go. I'll hold. This is”
Closes (Scene 5) — Ford: “For he tonight shall lie with Mistress Ford.”
The 5 scenes of Act 5
| Scene | Lines | Speakers | Share of act |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scene 1 | 29 | 3 | 9.5% |
| Scene 2 | 14 | 3 | 4.6% |
| Scene 3 | 23 | 3 | 7.5% |
| Scene 4 | 4 | 1 | 1.3% |
| Scene 5 | 236 | 12 | 77.1% |
Who speaks in Act 5
Leading voice: Falstaff with 28% of Act 5’s dialogue (85 lines).
| Character | Lines in act | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Falstaff ♂ | 85 | 27.8% |
| Mistress Quickly ♀ | 47 | 15.4% |
| Mistress Page ♂ | 40 | 13.1% |
| Ford ♂ | 28 | 9.2% |
| Page ♂ | 25 | 8.2% |
| Sir Hugh Evans ♂ | 22 | 7.2% |
| Slender ♂ | 20 | 6.5% |
Pacing across the 5 scenes
Scene lengths in Act 5 range from Scene 4 (4 lines, the shortest) to Scene 5 (236 lines, the longest), averaging about 61 lines per scene.
How Act 5 of The Merry Wives of Windsor compares to other comedies
| Play | Act 5 lines | Scenes |
|---|---|---|
| Love's Labours Lost | 1,126 | 2 |
| Much Ado About Nothing | 591 | 4 |
| The Comedy of Errors | 456 | 1 |
| As You Like It | 434 | 4 |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | 428 | 1 |
| Twelfth Night | 416 | 1 |
| Taming of the Shrew | 333 | 2 |
| The Merchant of Venice | 326 | 1 |
| The Merry Wives of Windsor (this act) | 306 | 5 |
| Two Gentlemen of Verona | 269 | 4 |
About Act 5 of The Merry Wives of Windsor
How many lines are in Act 5 of The Merry Wives of Windsor?
306 lines spread across 5 scenes.
Who dominates Act 5?
Falstaff delivers 28% of the act’s dialogue (85 lines).
Which scene is the heaviest in Act 5?
Scene 5, at 236 lines — well above the act’s scene average.