# A Midsummer Night’s Dream: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> William Shakespeare. 22 speaking roles, 15,992 words, about 114 minutes of speech.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

**Bottom** has the most to say in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: about 255 lines and 2,031 words, 12.7% of the play. A true ensemble play: no role holds more than about an eighth of the words. Bottom becomes the largest part once his Pyramus lines in the last act are counted, and the four lovers, the fairies, and the court each get their own world.

- Speaking roles: 22
- Scenes: 9
- Words: 15,992
- Speech time: 114 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Bottom](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/bottom) | 255 | 2,031 | 12.7% | 14.5 | 5 |
| [Helena](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/helena) | 229 | 1,812 | 11.3% | 12.9 | 5 |
| Theseus | 233 | 1,723 | 10.8% | 12.3 | 3 |
| Oberon | 225 | 1,608 | 10.1% | 11.5 | 5 |
| Lysander | 178 | 1,397 | 8.7% | 10.0 | 5 |
| [Puck](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/puck) | 206 | 1,367 | 8.5% | 9.8 | 6 |
| Hermia | 165 | 1,282 | 8% | 9.2 | 4 |
| Titania | 141 | 1,084 | 6.8% | 7.7 | 5 |
| Demetrius | 138 | 1,067 | 6.7% | 7.6 | 6 |
| Quince | 116 | 954 | 6% | 6.8 | 4 |
| Flute | 57 | 349 | 2.2% | 2.5 | 4 |
| Egeus | 41 | 295 | 1.8% | 2.1 | 2 |
| Hippolyta | 33 | 250 | 1.6% | 1.8 | 3 |
| Fairy | 30 | 196 | 1.2% | 1.4 | 2 |
| Philostrate | 24 | 183 | 1.1% | 1.3 | 1 |
| Snug | 18 | 138 | 0.9% | 1.0 | 4 |
| Snout | 18 | 137 | 0.9% | 1.0 | 3 |
| Starveling | 13 | 87 | 0.5% | 0.6 | 4 |
| Mustardseed | 5 | 8 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 2 |
| Cobweb | 4 | 5 | 0% | 0.0 | 2 |
| Peaseblossom | 4 | 5 | 0% | 0.0 | 2 |
| Moth | 2 | 3 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |

## Who speaks in which scene

Words each role speaks in each scene (scene: words). Scenes: 1.1 = Act 1, Scene 1; 1.2 = Act 1, Scene 2; 2.1 = Act 2, Scene 1; 2.2 = Act 2, Scene 2; 3.1 = Act 3, Scene 1; 3.2 = Act 3, Scene 2; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1.

- **Bottom**: 1.2 (368), 3.1 (705), 4.1 (396), 4.2 (157), 5.1 (405)
- **Helena**: 1.1 (350), 2.1 (292), 2.2 (254), 3.2 (898), 4.1 (18)
- **Theseus**: 1.1 (467), 4.1 (305), 5.1 (951)
- **Oberon**: 2.1 (605), 2.2 (52), 3.2 (459), 4.1 (338), 5.1 (154)
- **Lysander**: 1.1 (405), 2.2 (359), 3.2 (477), 4.1 (77), 5.1 (79)
- **Puck**: 2.1 (272), 2.2 (105), 3.1 (90), 3.2 (671), 4.1 (21), 5.1 (208)
- **Hermia**: 1.1 (430), 2.2 (204), 3.2 (632), 4.1 (16)
- **Titania**: 2.1 (548), 2.2 (67), 3.1 (268), 4.1 (176), 5.1 (25)
- **Demetrius**: 1.1 (13), 2.1 (190), 2.2 (18), 3.2 (482), 4.1 (199), 5.1 (165)
- **Quince**: 1.2 (339), 3.1 (273), 4.2 (59), 5.1 (283)
- **Flute**: 1.2 (22), 3.1 (56), 4.2 (92), 5.1 (179)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy:”](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/these-are-the-forgeries-of-jealousy) | Act 2, Scene 1 | 277 | 37 |
| Oberon: “Welcome, good Robin. See’st thou this sweet sight?” | Act 4, Scene 1 | 232 | 30 |
| Puck: “My mistress with a monster is in love.” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 220 | 29 |
| Helena: “Lo, she is one of this confederacy!” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 215 | 28 |
| [Helena: “How happy some o’er other some can be!”](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/how-happy-some) | Act 1, Scene 1 | 208 | 26 |
| Quince: “Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 195 | 25 |
| Bottom: “When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer: my next is, “Most fair Pyramus.” Heigh-ho! Peter Quince! Flute, the bellows-mender! Snout, the tinker! Starveling! God’s my life, stolen hence, and left me asleep! I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was: man is but an ass, if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there is no man can tell what. Methought I was—and methought I had—but man is but a patched fool, if he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: it shall be called Bottom’s Dream, because it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in the latter end of a play, before the duke: peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death.” | Act 4, Scene 1 | 191 | 20 |
| Oberon: “Thou see’st these lovers seek a place to fight:” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 180 | 24 |
| Egeus: “Full of vexation come I, with complaint” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 172 | 24 |
| Oberon: “I pray thee, give it me.” | Act 2, Scene 1 | 158 | 20 |

## Small roles that can be doubled

These pairs of small roles never speak in the same scene, so one actor could play both. Check entrances and silent appearances in your script before you cast it this way.

- Flute and Egeus
- Flute and Fairy
- Egeus and Fairy
- Egeus and Philostrate
- Egeus and Snug
- Egeus and Snout
- Egeus and Starveling
- Egeus and Moth
- Hippolyta and Fairy
- Hippolyta and Moth
- Fairy and Philostrate
- Fairy and Snug

## Roles and monologues in depth

- [How many lines does Puck have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/puck)
- [How many lines does Bottom have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/bottom)
- [How many lines does Helena have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/a-midsummer-nights-dream/helena)
- [Helena: How happy some o’er other some can be!](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/how-happy-some)
- [Titania: These are the forgeries of jealousy](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/these-are-the-forgeries-of-jealousy)
- [Puck: If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue)](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/if-we-shadows-have-offended)

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Bottom, with about 255 lines and 2,031 words, 12.7% of everything spoken in the play. Helena is next, with about 229 lines (11.3%).

### How long is A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

The full text has 15,992 spoken words, about 114 minutes at 140 words a minute before pauses, scene changes, and cuts. Most productions cut the text, so running times vary.

### How many speaking roles are in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

22 named roles speak in this edition, across 9 scenes. 11 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.

## How we count

Counts are computed from the full text of the [Standard Ebooks edition](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/a-midsummer-nights-dream) (public domain; retrieved 2026-10-08). Words are every spoken word, with stage directions removed. Lines are verse lines as printed, plus prose at 10 words a line, because prose has no fixed line breaks; editions differ, so other sources give slightly different line counts. Time is words at 140 words a minute, before pauses and stage business. A role is counted in a scene when it speaks there. To count a script that is not in the library, paste it into the [script line counter](https://www.offbook.com/tools/script-line-counter).