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

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

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/cymbeline
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

**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

Words each role speaks in each scene (scene: words). Scenes: 1.1 = Act 1, Scene 1; 1.2 = Act 1, Scene 2; 1.3 = Act 1, Scene 3; 1.4 = Act 1, Scene 4; 1.5 = Act 1, Scene 5; 1.6 = Act 1, Scene 6; 2.1 = Act 2, Scene 1; 2.2 = Act 2, Scene 2; 2.3 = Act 2, Scene 3; 2.4 = Act 2, Scene 4; 2.5 = Act 2, Scene 5; 3.1 = Act 3, Scene 1; 3.2 = Act 3, Scene 2; 3.3 = Act 3, Scene 3; 3.4 = Act 3, Scene 4; 3.5 = Act 3, Scene 5; 3.6 = Act 3, Scene 6; 3.7 = Act 3, Scene 7; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 4.3 = Act 4, Scene 3; 4.4 = Act 4, Scene 4; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1; 5.2 = Act 5, Scene 2; 5.3 = Act 5, Scene 3; 5.4 = Act 5, Scene 4; 5.5 = Act 5, Scene 5.

- **Imogen**: 1.1 (300), 1.3 (254), 1.6 (538), 2.2 (75), 2.3 (416), 3.2 (478), 3.4 (994), 3.6 (436), 4.2 (678), 5.5 (221)
- **Posthumus**: 1.1 (201), 1.4 (423), 2.4 (660), 2.5 (283), 5.1 (274), 5.3 (691), 5.4 (543), 5.5 (302)
- **Iachimo**: 1.4 (632), 1.6 (1,097), 2.2 (330), 2.4 (472), 5.2 (86), 5.5 (567)
- **Belarius**: 3.3 (758), 3.6 (195), 4.2 (781), 4.4 (197), 5.2 (22), 5.5 (544)
- **Cloten**: 1.2 (58), 2.1 (223), 2.3 (500), 3.1 (189), 3.5 (654), 4.1 (239), 4.2 (126)
- **Cymbeline**: 1.1 (114), 2.3 (112), 3.1 (212), 3.5 (197), 4.3 (158), 5.5 (1,184)
- **Pisanio**: 1.1 (69), 1.3 (76), 1.5 (21), 1.6 (20), 2.3 (4), 3.2 (207), 3.4 (595), 3.5 (173), 4.3 (136), 5.5 (193)
- **Queen**: 1.1 (219), 1.5 (521), 2.3 (72), 3.1 (158), 3.5 (236)
- **Guiderius**: 3.3 (75), 3.6 (57), 4.2 (722), 4.4 (122), 5.5 (99)
- **Arviragus**: 3.3 (82), 3.6 (95), 4.2 (555), 4.4 (136), 5.5 (50)
- **Lucius**: 3.1 (122), 3.5 (56), 4.2 (310), 5.2 (32), 5.5 (197)
- **Cornelius**: 1.5 (179), 5.5 (342)

## 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 in time” | 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 turf;” | 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, if Pisanio have mapped it truly. How fit his garments serve me! Why should his mistress, who was made by him that made the tailor, not be fit too? the rather—saving reverence of the word—for ’tis said a woman’s fitness comes by fits. Therein I must play the workman. I dare speak it to myself—for it is not vain-glory for a man and his glass to confer in his own chamber—I mean, the lines of my body are as well drawn as his; no less young, more strong, not beneath him in fortunes, beyond him in the advantage of the time, above him in birth, alike conversant in general services, and more remarkable in single oppositions: yet this imperceiverant thing loves him in my despite. What mortality is! Posthumus, thy head, which now is growing upon thy shoulders, shall within this hour be off; thy mistress enforced; thy garments cut to pieces before thy face: and all this done, spurn her home to her father; who may haply be a little angry for my so rough usage; but my mother, having power of his testiness, shall turn all into my commendations. My horse is tied up safe: out, sword, and to a sore purpose! Fortune, put them into my hand! This is the very description of their meeting-place; and the fellow dares not deceive me.” | 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.

## How we count

Counts are computed from the full text of the [Standard Ebooks edition](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/cymbeline) (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).