Mitarai Digital Folio
Romance • c. 1611

Winter’s Tale

3,362Lines 5Acts 14Scenes 35Characters 77% / 23%Male / Female Lines

Winter's Tale (c. 1611) fields a crowded stage: 35 named speakers share 3,362 lines across 5 acts and 14 scenes.

Opens (Act 1, Scene 1) — Archidamus: “If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on”

Closes (Act 5, Scene 3) — Leontes: “We were dissever'd: hastily lead away.”

Full cast of Winter's Tale by line count

# Character Lines Share Acts Scenes
1 Leontes ♂ 692 20.6% 4 6
2 Paulina ♀ 340 10.1% 3 5
3 Camillo ♂ 299 8.9% 3 5
4 Autolycus ♂ 294 8.7% 2 3
5 Polixenes ♂ 273 8.1% 3 4
6 Hermione ♀ 211 6.3% 4 4
7 Florizel ♂ 206 6.1% 2 2
8 Clown ♂ 184 5.5% 3 4
9 Shepherd ♂ 133 4.0% 3 3
10 Perdita ♀ 131 3.9% 2 3
11 Antigonus ♂ 112 3.3% 2 3
12 Third Gentleman ♂ 66 2.0% 1 1
13 Servant ♂ 45 1.3% 3 3
14 First Lord ♂ 36 1.1% 2 3
15 Time ♀ 33 1.0% 1 1
16 Dion ♂ 28 0.8% 2 3
17 Officer ♂ 26 0.8% 1 1
18 First Gentleman ♂ 26 0.8% 1 1
19 Lord ♂ 24 0.7% 1 1
20 Cleomenes ♂ 24 0.7% 2 3
21 Archidamus ♂ 22 0.7% 1 1
22 Mamillius ♂ 22 0.7% 2 2
23 Emilia ♀ 21 0.6% 1 1
24 Mopsa ♀ 20 0.6% 1 1
25 Gentleman ♂ 18 0.5% 1 1
…10 additional speaking roles with fewer than 18 lines

When each speaker first enters

  • Act 1 — 6 new speakers enter: Leontes, Camillo, Polixenes, Hermione, Archidamus, Mamillius
  • Act 2 — 11 new speakers enter: Paulina, Antigonus, Servant, First Lord, Emilia, Gaoler, First Lady, Second Lady, Lords, First Servant (+1 more)
  • Act 3 — 6 new speakers enter: Clown, Shepherd, Dion, Officer, Cleomenes, Mariner
  • Act 4 — 7 new speakers enter: Autolycus, Florizel, Perdita, Time, Mopsa, Dorcas, Shepard
  • Act 5 — 5 new speakers enter: Third Gentleman, First Gentleman, Lord, Gentleman, Second Gentleman

Line counts act by act

Act Scenes Lines Speakers Density
Act 1 2 584 6
Act 2 3 566 14
Act 3 3 434 13
Act 4 3 1,142 12
Act 5 3 636 17

How male and female voices share Act 1 through Act 5

Act Male lines Female lines Female share Balance
Act 1 516 68 12%
Act 2 351 215 38%
Act 3 284 150 35%
Act 4 956 186 16%
Act 5 474 162 25%

Female voices peak in Act 2 (38% of the act’s dialogue) and are quietest in Act 1 (12%).

Scene length across the play

Across 14 scenes: 2 very short (under 50 lines), 3 short (50–149 lines), 7 mid-length (150–299 lines), 2 long (300+ lines).

The shortest scene runs 27 lines, the longest 929 lines, with a mean of about 240 lines per scene.

Longest scenes in Winter's Tale

Scene Lines Speakers
Act 4, Scene 4 929 11
Act 1, Scene 2 539 5
Act 5, Scene 1 281 8
Act 3, Scene 2 267 9
Act 2, Scene 3 248 8

Line-length signature

Of 3,362 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 Winter's Tale compares to Shakespeare’s other romances

Play Year Lines Acts Scenes Speakers
Winter's Tale (this play) c. 1611 3,362 5 14 35
Cymbeline c. 1610 3,755 5 26 40
Pericles, Prince of Tyre c. 1608 2,416 5 22 46
The Tempest c. 1611 2,278 5 9 19

Common questions

How long is Winter’s Tale?

3,362 lines of dialogue across 5 acts and 14 scenes — roughly 240 lines per scene.

Who speaks the most in Winter’s Tale?

Leontes with 692 lines — about 21% of the play.

Which act of Winter’s Tale is longest?

Act 4 runs 1,142 lines across 3 scenes — noticeably heavier than the play’s other acts.

Which female character has the most lines in Winter’s Tale?

Paulina with 340 lines — about 10% of the play’s dialogue.
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