Coriolanus: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 54 speaking roles, 26,546 words, about 190 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Coriolanus has the most to say in Coriolanus: about 885 lines and 6,425 words, 24.2% of the play. Shakespeare’s tragedy follows the Roman soldier Caius Marcius, whose war honors and contempt for the people lead to his banishment. He is called Marcius in Act 1 and Coriolanus after that, and we count both: about a quarter of the words, in 18 of the 29 scenes. Menenius comes next with about a sixth, and Volumnia is the largest female role.

Speaking roles: 54
Scenes: 29
Words: 26,546
Speech time: 190 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Coriolanus	885	6,425	24.2%	45.9	18
Menenius	580	4,267	16.1%	30.5	13
Volumnia	306	2,396	9%	17.1	6
Aufidius	274	2,029	7.6%	14.5	8
Cominius	279	1,949	7.3%	13.9	11
Sicinius	305	1,870	7%	13.4	10
Brutus	245	1,570	5.9%	11.2	9
First Citizen	82	642	2.4%	4.6	4
First Senator	86	597	2.2%	4.3	9
Third Citizen	54	483	1.8%	3.5	2
Third Servingman	48	394	1.5%	2.8	1
Lartius	54	353	1.3%	2.5	5
Valeria	40	347	1.3%	2.5	2
Messenger	38	268	1%	1.9	6
Second Servingman	33	255	1%	1.8	1
First Servingman	33	236	0.9%	1.7	1
Roman	28	235	0.9%	1.7	1
Virgilia	34	227	0.9%	1.6	5
Second Officer	20	186	0.7%	1.3	1
Second Citizen	25	170	0.6%	1.2	3
Volsce	20	160	0.6%	1.1	1
Second Messenger	20	137	0.5%	1.0	2
Second Senator	20	128	0.5%	0.9	3
First Officer	14	112	0.4%	0.8	1
First Lord	13	88	0.3%	0.6	1
Lieutenant	12	86	0.3%	0.6	2
Third Conspirator	12	80	0.3%	0.6	1
Aedile	16	79	0.3%	0.6	3
Second Lord	9	60	0.2%	0.4	1
First Conspirator	8	56	0.2%	0.4	1
First Soldier	11	56	0.2%	0.4	2
Fourth Citizen	6	45	0.2%	0.3	1
Herald	6	38	0.1%	0.3	1
Second Conspirator	7	38	0.1%	0.3	1
Titus	6	31	0.1%	0.2	1
All the People	3	22	0.1%	0.2	1
Citizen	4	20	0.1%	0.1	1
Seventh Citizen	2	18	0.1%	0.1	1
Young Marcius	2	17	0.1%	0.1	1
A Patrician	3	14	0.1%	0.1	2
Fifth Citizen	2	14	0.1%	0.1	1
Sixth Citizen	2	12	0%	0.1	1
Third Lord	2	12	0%	0.1	1
All Conspirators	2	10	0%	0.1	1
Gentlewoman	1	9	0%	0.1	1
Third Roman	1	8	0%	0.1	1
All Citizens	1	7	0%	0.1	1
Senators	1	7	0%	0.1	1
First Roman	1	6	0%	0.0	1
All the Lords	1	5	0%	0.0	1
Second Patrician	1	5	0%	0.0	1
Officer	1	3	0%	0.0	1
Second Roman	1	3	0%	0.0	1
Second Soldier	1	2	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	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7	1.8	1.9	1.10	2.1	2.2	2.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.5	4.6	4.7	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5	5.6
Coriolanus
Menenius
Volumnia
Aufidius
Cominius
Sicinius
Brutus
First Citizen
First Senator

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Volumnia: “Nay, go not from us thus.”	Act 5, Scene 3	432	52
Cominius: “I shall lack voice: the deeds of Coriolanus”	Act 2, Scene 2	330	41
Coriolanus: “My name is Caius Marcius, who hath done”	Act 4, Scene 5	303	37
Aufidius: “O Marcius, Marcius!”	Act 4, Scene 5	273	35
Volumnia: “Should we be silent and not speak, our raiment”	Act 5, Scene 3	262	32
Aufidius: “All places yield to him ere he sits down;”	Act 4, Scene 7	250	30
Coriolanus: “This last old man,”	Act 5, Scene 3	238	30
Menenius: “I am known to be a humorous patrician, and one…”	Act 2, Scene 1	189	19
Coriolanus: “He that will give good words to thee will flat…”	Act 1, Scene 1	188	22
Menenius: “Now, you companion, I’ll say an errand for you…”	Act 5, Scene 2	175	18

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.

First Citizen and Third Servingman
First Citizen and Valeria
First Citizen and Second Servingman
First Citizen and First Servingman
First Citizen and Roman
First Citizen and Virgilia
First Citizen and Second Officer
First Citizen and Volsce
First Citizen and First Officer
First Citizen and First Lord
First Citizen and Lieutenant
First Citizen and Third Conspirator

Roles and monologues in depth

How many lines does Coriolanus have?

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Coriolanus?

Coriolanus, with about 885 lines and 6,425 words, 24.2% of everything spoken in the play. Menenius is next, with about 580 lines (16.1%).

How long is Coriolanus?

The full text has 26,546 spoken words, about 190 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 Coriolanus?

54 named roles speak in this edition, across 29 scenes. 45 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.