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

William Shakespeare. 37 speaking roles, 26,704 words, about 191 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Imogen has the most to say in Cymbeline: about 592 lines and 4,390 words, 16.4% of the play. Shakespeare’s late romance follows Imogen, the king’s daughter, whose secret marriage to Posthumus sets off exile, deceit, and disguise. Imogen is the largest part, while Cymbeline himself has under a tenth of the words. Posthumus is the second-largest part, but he is absent from Acts 3 and 4.

Speaking roles: 37
Scenes: 27
Words: 26,704
Speech time: 191 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Imogen	592	4,390	16.4%	31.4	10
Posthumus	442	3,377	12.6%	24.1	8
Iachimo	426	3,184	11.9%	22.7	6
Belarius	336	2,497	9.4%	17.8	6
Cloten	257	1,989	7.4%	14.2	7
Cymbeline	291	1,977	7.4%	14.1	6
Pisanio	217	1,494	5.6%	10.7	10
Queen	167	1,206	4.5%	8.6	5
Guiderius	164	1,075	4%	7.7	5
Arviragus	139	918	3.4%	6.6	5
Lucius	104	717	2.7%	5.1	5
Cornelius	73	521	2%	3.7	2
First Gentleman	66	503	1.9%	3.6	1
First Gaoler	44	409	1.5%	2.9	1
Second Lord	43	313	1.2%	2.2	3
Soothsayer	42	311	1.2%	2.2	2
First Lord	41	292	1.1%	2.1	4
Philario	43	292	1.1%	2.1	2
Sicilius	27	228	0.9%	1.6	1
Frenchman	21	179	0.7%	1.3	1
Jupiter	21	154	0.6%	1.1	1
First Senator	15	101	0.4%	0.7	1
Second Gentleman	13	71	0.3%	0.5	1
Captain	11	66	0.2%	0.5	1
First Brother	7	61	0.2%	0.4	1
Lady	13	60	0.2%	0.4	3
Mother	7	60	0.2%	0.4	1
Second Captain	6	51	0.2%	0.4	1
Lord	7	35	0.1%	0.3	1
Second Brother	4	32	0.1%	0.2	1
First Captain	4	30	0.1%	0.2	1
Attendant	3	22	0.1%	0.2	1
Messenger	3	22	0.1%	0.2	2
First Tribune	3	15	0.1%	0.1	1
First Lady	2	8	0%	0.1	2
Second Gaoler	1	4	0%	0.0	1
Second Senator	1	1	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	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	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5
Imogen
Posthumus
Iachimo
Belarius
Cloten
Cymbeline
Pisanio
Queen
Guiderius
Arviragus
Lucius
Cornelius

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Imogen: “Who? thy lord? that is my lord, Leonatus!”	Act 3, Scene 2	370	43
Belarius: “My fault being nothing—as I have told you oft—”	Act 3, Scene 3	361	43
Imogen: “Yes, sir, to Milford-Haven; which is the way?—”	Act 4, Scene 2	357	42
Queen: “Weeps she still, say’st thou? Dost thou think …”	Act 1, Scene 5	339	41
Iachimo: “The crickets sing, and man’s o’er-labour’d sense”	Act 2, Scene 2	330	41
Posthumus: “Close by the battle, ditch’d, and wall’d with …”	Act 5, Scene 3	311	38
Posthumus: “Is there no way for men to be but women”	Act 2, Scene 5	283	35
Posthumus: “Yea, bloody cloth, I’ll keep thee, for I wish’d”	Act 5, Scene 1	274	33
Cloten: “I am near to the place where they should meet,…”	Act 4, Scene 1	239	24
Posthumus: “Sleep, thou hast been a grandsire, and begot”	Act 5, Scene 4	234	28

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.

Queen and Guiderius
Queen and Arviragus
Queen and First Gaoler
Queen and Soothsayer
Queen and Philario
Queen and Sicilius
Queen and Frenchman
Queen and Jupiter
Queen and First Senator
Queen and Captain
Queen and First Brother
Queen and Mother

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Cymbeline?

Imogen, with about 592 lines and 4,390 words, 16.4% of everything spoken in the play. Posthumus is next, with about 442 lines (12.6%).

How long is Cymbeline?

The full text has 26,704 spoken words, about 191 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 Cymbeline?

37 named roles speak in this edition, across 27 scenes. 25 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.