Henry IV, Part I: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 35 speaking roles, 23,913 words, about 171 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Falstaff has the most to say in Henry IV, Part I: about 620 lines and 5,510 words, 23% of the play. Henry IV, Part I sets a rebellion against the king beside the tavern life of Prince Hal and Falstaff. Falstaff has the most words, at about 23%, but the Prince and Hotspur are close behind at about 18% each, so three large roles share the play. Hotspur does not appear until Act 1, Scene 3, and the King speaks in only 6 of 19 sections.

Speaking roles: 35
Scenes: 19
Words: 23,913
Speech time: 171 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Falstaff	620	5,510	23%	39.4	8
Prince	549	4,369	18.3%	31.2	10
Hotspur	559	4,318	18.1%	30.8	8
King	341	2,558	10.7%	18.3	6
Worcester	189	1,420	5.9%	10.1	7
Glendower	79	607	2.5%	4.3	1
Poins	78	548	2.3%	3.9	3
Vernon	66	461	1.9%	3.3	3
Mortimer	60	445	1.9%	3.2	1
Hostess	51	412	1.7%	2.9	2
Lady	47	365	1.5%	2.6	1
Douglas	46	341	1.4%	2.4	5
Gadshill	43	341	1.4%	2.4	3
Blunt	41	299	1.3%	2.1	4
Westmoreland	42	296	1.2%	2.1	3
Archbishop	34	259	1.1%	1.9	1
Bardolph	28	199	0.8%	1.4	4
First Carrier	21	176	0.7%	1.3	1
Northumberland	26	170	0.7%	1.2	1
Chamberlain	18	148	0.6%	1.1	1
Second Carrier	16	139	0.6%	1.0	1
Francis	15	83	0.3%	0.6	1
Peto	10	67	0.3%	0.5	2
Lancaster	8	64	0.3%	0.5	2
Messenger	8	64	0.3%	0.5	2
Sheriff	8	59	0.2%	0.4	1
Lady Percy	10	53	0.2%	0.4	1
Sir Michael	8	53	0.2%	0.4	1
Vintner	4	31	0.1%	0.2	1
First Traveller	2	19	0.1%	0.1	1
Servant	3	19	0.1%	0.1	1
Travellers	2	13	0.1%	0.1	1
Carrier	1	4	0%	0.0	1
Ostler	1	2	0%	0.0	1
Thieves	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	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	3.1	3.2	3.3	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5
Falstaff
Prince
Hotspur
King
Worcester
Glendower
Poins

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
King: “God pardon thee! yet let me wonder, Harry,”	Act 3, Scene 2	464	63
Hotspur: ““But for mine own part, my lord, I could be we…”	Act 2, Scene 3	355	36
Falstaff: “If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a sou…”	Act 4, Scene 2	350	35
Worcester: “It pleased your majesty to turn your looks”	Act 5, Scene 1	334	42
Hotspur: “My liege, I did deny no prisoners.”	Act 1, Scene 3	307	41
Prince: “With three or four loggerheads amongst three o…”	Act 2, Scene 4	295	30
Hotspur: “The king is kind; and well we know the king”	Act 4, Scene 3	287	37
King: “For all the world”	Act 3, Scene 2	268	36
Prince: “Do not think so; you shall not find it so:”	Act 3, Scene 2	250	31
King: “So shaken as we are, so wan with care,”	Act 1, Scene 1	247	33

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.

Glendower and Poins
Glendower and Vernon
Glendower and Hostess
Glendower and Lady
Glendower and Douglas
Glendower and Gadshill
Glendower and Blunt
Glendower and Westmoreland
Glendower and Archbishop
Glendower and Bardolph
Glendower and First Carrier
Glendower and Northumberland

Roles and monologues in depth

How many lines does Falstaff have?

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Henry IV, Part I?

Falstaff, with about 620 lines and 5,510 words, 23% of everything spoken in the play. Prince is next, with about 549 lines (18.3%).

How long is Henry IV, Part I?

The full text has 23,913 spoken words, about 171 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 Henry IV, Part I?

35 named roles speak in this edition, across 19 scenes. 28 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.