All’s Well That Ends Well: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 22 speaking roles, 22,540 words, about 161 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Helena has the most to say in All’s Well That Ends Well: about 474 lines and 3,575 words, 15.9% of the play. Shakespeare’s comedy follows Helena, who cures the King and wins the right to marry Bertram, who then flees from her. Helena leads with about 16% of the words, but Parolles and the King are close behind. The King speaks in only 5 of 24 scenes: he is absent through Acts 3 and 4 and returns for the final scene and the Epilogue.

Speaking roles: 22
Scenes: 24
Words: 22,540
Speech time: 161 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Helena	474	3,575	15.9%	25.5	12
Parolles	369	2,959	13.1%	21.1	11
King	384	2,878	12.8%	20.6	5
Lafeu	278	2,243	10%	16.0	7
Countess	284	2,166	9.6%	15.5	7
Bertram	273	2,039	9%	14.6	10
Clown	196	1,660	7.4%	11.9	6
Second Lord	145	1,149	5.1%	8.2	7
Diana	137	1,013	4.5%	7.2	4
First Lord	112	856	3.8%	6.1	6
First Soldier	77	585	2.6%	4.2	2
Widow	63	429	1.9%	3.1	5
Steward	38	345	1.5%	2.5	2
Mariana	19	172	0.8%	1.2	1
Gentleman	22	129	0.6%	0.9	2
Duke	19	124	0.6%	0.9	2
First Gentleman	12	73	0.3%	0.5	1
Second Gentleman	11	66	0.3%	0.5	1
Servant	4	34	0.2%	0.2	1
Page	1	7	0%	0.1	1
Second Soldier	2	7	0%	0.1	1
Fourth Lord	1	6	0%	0.0	1

Who speaks in which scene

Darker cells mean more words in that scene. Use it to plan rehearsal calls, or to see how long an actor waits between entrances.

Role	1.1	1.2	1.3	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.5	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.7	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.5	5.1	5.2	5.3	Epi
Helena
Parolles
King
Lafeu
Countess
Bertram
Clown
Second Lord
Diana
First Lord
First Soldier

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Helena: ““Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France.””	Act 3, Scene 2	256	31
Helena: “O, were that all! I think not on my father;”	Act 1, Scene 1	224	27
King: “’Tis only title thou disdain’st in her, the wh…”	Act 2, Scene 3	220	28
Helena: “Then, I confess,”	Act 1, Scene 3	214	27
King: “I would I had that corporal soundness now,”	Act 1, Scene 2	199	25
Countess: “Yes, Helen, you might be my daughter-in-law:”	Act 1, Scene 3	154	19
King: “My honour’s at the stake; which to defeat,”	Act 2, Scene 3	147	18
Steward: “Madam, I was very late more near her than I th…”	Act 1, Scene 3	140	14
Countess: “What angel shall”	Act 3, Scene 4	140	18
Clown: “You’re shallow, madam, in great friends; for t…”	Act 1, Scene 3	137	14

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.

Diana and First Lord
Diana and First Soldier
Diana and Steward
Diana and Duke
Diana and First Gentleman
Diana and Second Gentleman
Diana and Servant
Diana and Page
Diana and Second Soldier
Diana and Fourth Lord
First Lord and Widow
First Lord and Steward

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in All’s Well That Ends Well?

Helena, with about 474 lines and 3,575 words, 15.9% of everything spoken in the play. Parolles is next, with about 369 lines (13.1%).

How long is All’s Well That Ends Well?

The full text has 22,540 spoken words, about 161 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 All’s Well That Ends Well?

22 named roles speak in this edition, across 24 scenes. 11 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.