Troilus and Cressida: 3,456 Lines, 28 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Troilus and Cressida (c. 1602) is a problem play with 3,456 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 24 scenes. 28 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 58% of the play. Dialogue splits 89% male and 11% female.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Troilus: “Call here my varlet; I'll unarm again:”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 10) with Pandarus: “And at that time bequeathe you my diseases.”

Full cast of Troilus and Cressida by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Troilus ♂	537	15.5%	5
2	Ulysses ♂	488	14.1%	5
3	Pandarus ♂	394	11.4%	4
4	Cressida ♀	295	8.5%	4
5	Thersites ♂	284	8.2%	3
6	Hector ♂	213	6.2%	3
7	Agamemnon ♂	195	5.6%	5
8	Achilles ♂	190	5.5%	4
9	Nestor ♂	158	4.6%	5
10	Aeneas ♂	145	4.2%	3
11	Diomedes ♂	104	3.0%	4
12	Paris ♂	98	2.8%	3
13	Ajax ♂	84	2.4%	4
14	Patroclus ♂	65	1.9%	4
15	Cassandra ♀	37	1.1%	2
16	Alexander ♂	33	1.0%	1
17	Calchas ♂	31	0.9%	2
18	Helen ♀	24	0.7%	1
19	Priam ♂	20	0.6%	2
20	Servant ♂	19	0.5%	2
21	Andromache ♀	15	0.4%	1
22	Menelaus ♂	12	0.3%	4
23	Helenus ♀	4	0.1%	1
24	Boy ♂	3	0.1%	2
25	Margarelon ♂	3	0.1%	1
…3 additional speaking roles with fewer than 3 lines

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	3	797	10
Act 2	3	612	14
Act 3	3	676	17
Act 4	5	691	16
Act 5	10	680	22

Longest scenes in Troilus and Cressida

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 1, Scene 3	399	5
Act 4, Scene 5	322	13
Act 3, Scene 3	321	10
Act 1, Scene 2	283	4
Act 2, Scene 3	265	8

Common questions

How long is Troilus and Cressida?

Troilus and Cressida contains 3,456 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 24 scenes — roughly 144 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Troilus and Cressida?

Troilus leads the cast with 537 lines — about 16% of the play.

Which act of Troilus and Cressida is longest?

Act 1 runs 797 lines across 3 scenes.

Troilus and Cressida