Two Gentlemen of Verona: 2,234 Lines, 17 Characters, Act-by-Act Breakdown

Two Gentlemen of Verona (c. 1591) is a comedy with 2,234 lines of dialogue distributed across 5 acts and 20 scenes. 17 named characters speak at least once; the top five voices account for 69% of the play. The gender balance (75% male, 25% female) is unusually even for Shakespeare.

The play opens (Act 1, Scene 1) with Valentine: “Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus:”

The play closes (Act 5, Scene 4) with Valentine: “One feast, one house, one mutual happiness.”

Full cast of Two Gentlemen of Verona by line count

#	Character	Lines	Share	Acts
1	Proteus ♂	442	19.8%	5
2	Valentine ♂	383	17.1%	5
3	Julia ♀	322	14.4%	4
4	Launce ♂	203	9.1%	3
5	Duke ♂	200	9.0%	3
6	Speed ♂	194	8.7%	4
7	Silvia ♀	155	6.9%	3
8	Lucetta ♀	73	3.3%	2
9	Thurio ♂	56	2.5%	4
10	Panthino ♂	43	1.9%	2
11	Host ♂	38	1.7%	1
12	Antonio ♂	35	1.6%	1
13	Eglamour ♂	28	1.3%	2
14	Third Outlaw ♂	25	1.1%	2
15	First Outlaw ♂	21	0.9%	2
16	Second Outlaw ♂	15	0.7%	2
17	Outlaws ♂	1	0.0%	1

Line counts act by act

Act	Scenes	Lines	Speakers
Act 1	3	381	7
Act 2	7	640	10
Act 3	2	470	6
Act 4	4	474	12
Act 5	4	269	11

Longest scenes in Two Gentlemen of Verona

Scene	Lines	Speakers
Act 3, Scene 1	372	5
Act 2, Scene 4	215	6
Act 4, Scene 4	207	4
Act 5, Scene 4	180	7
Act 2, Scene 1	162	3

Common questions

How long is Two Gentlemen of Verona?

Two Gentlemen of Verona contains 2,234 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 20 scenes — roughly 112 lines per scene on average.

Who speaks the most in Two Gentlemen of Verona?

Proteus leads the cast with 442 lines — about 20% of the play.

Which act of Two Gentlemen of Verona is longest?

Act 2 runs 640 lines across 7 scenes.

Two Gentlemen of Verona