Problem play • c. 1603
All's Well That Ends Well
5 Acts
23 Scenes
2,925 Lines
Problem play • c. 1602
Troilus and Cressida
3,456Lines
5Acts
24Scenes
28Characters
89% / 11%Male / Female Lines
Written in Shakespeare’s middle-period career (c. 1602), Troilus and Cressida is a problem play of 3,456 lines, 5 acts and 24 scenes with 28 speaking roles.
Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — Troilus: “Call here my varlet; I'll unarm again:”
Closes (Act 5, Scene 10) — Pandarus: “And at that time bequeathe you my diseases.”
Full cast of Troilus and Cressida by line count
| # | Character | Lines | Share | Acts | Scenes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Troilus ♂ | 537 | 15.5% | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | Ulysses ♂ | 488 | 14.1% | 5 | 7 |
| 3 | Pandarus ♂ | 394 | 11.4% | 4 | 8 |
| 4 | Cressida ♀ | 295 | 8.5% | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Thersites ♂ | 284 | 8.2% | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Hector ♂ | 213 | 6.2% | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | Agamemnon ♂ | 195 | 5.6% | 5 | 7 |
| 8 | Achilles ♂ | 190 | 5.5% | 4 | 9 |
| 9 | Nestor ♂ | 158 | 4.6% | 5 | 6 |
| 10 | Aeneas ♂ | 145 | 4.2% | 3 | 8 |
| 11 | Diomedes ♂ | 104 | 3.0% | 4 | 11 |
| 12 | Paris ♂ | 98 | 2.8% | 3 | 5 |
| 13 | Ajax ♂ | 84 | 2.4% | 4 | 8 |
| 14 | Patroclus ♂ | 65 | 1.9% | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | Cassandra ♀ | 37 | 1.1% | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Alexander ♂ | 33 | 1.0% | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Calchas ♂ | 31 | 0.9% | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Helen ♀ | 24 | 0.7% | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Priam ♂ | 20 | 0.6% | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | Servant ♂ | 19 | 0.5% | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Andromache ♀ | 15 | 0.4% | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Menelaus ♂ | 12 | 0.3% | 4 | 4 |
| 23 | Helenus ♀ | 4 | 0.1% | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Boy ♂ | 3 | 0.1% | 2 | 2 |
| 25 | Margarelon ♂ | 3 | 0.1% | 1 | 1 |
| …3 additional speaking roles with fewer than 3 lines | |||||
When each speaker first enters
- Act 1 — 10 new speakers enter: Troilus, Ulysses, Pandarus, Cressida, Agamemnon, Nestor, Aeneas, Alexander, Menelaus, Boy
- Act 2 — 10 new speakers enter: Thersites, Hector, Achilles, Diomedes, Paris, Ajax, Patroclus, Cassandra, Priam, Helenus
- Act 3 — 3 new speakers enter: Calchas, Helen, Servant
- Act 4 — 2 new speakers enter: Deiphobus, All
- Act 5 — 3 new speakers enter: Andromache, Margarelon, Myrmidons
Line counts act by act
| Act | Scenes | Lines | Speakers | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5
| Act | Male lines | Female lines | Female share | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act 1 | 694 | 103 | 13% | |
| Act 2 | 595 | 17 | 3% | |
| Act 3 | 585 | 91 | 13% | |
| Act 4 | 612 | 79 | 11% | |
| Act 5 | 595 | 85 | 13% |
Female voices peak in Act 1 (13% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 2 (3%).
Scene length across the play
Across 24 scenes: 6 very short (under 50 lines), 9 short (50–149 lines), 6 mid-length (150–299 lines), 3 long (300+ lines).
The shortest scene runs 10 lines, the longest 399 lines, with a mean of about 144 lines per scene.
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 |
Line-length signature
Of 3,456 total lines: 100% short (under 60 characters, typical of quickfire exchanges), 0% 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.
How Troilus and Cressida compares to Shakespeare’s other problem plays
| Play | Year | Lines | Acts | Scenes | Speakers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troilus and Cressida (this play) | c. 1602 | 3,456 | 5 | 24 | 28 |
| All's Well That Ends Well | c. 1603 | 2,925 | 5 | 23 | 24 |
| Measure for Measure | c. 1604 | 2,833 | 5 | 17 | 26 |
Common questions
How long is Troilus and Cressida?
3,456 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 24 scenes — roughly 144 lines per scene.
Who speaks the most in Troilus and Cressida?
Troilus with 537 lines — about 16% of the play.
More Problem play