# Henry VI, Part II: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> William Shakespeare. 63 speaking roles, 24,416 words, about 174 minutes of speech.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/henry-vi-part-ii
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

**York** has the most to say in Henry VI, Part II: about 380 lines and 2,988 words, 12.2% of the play. Henry VI, Part II shows the English court tearing itself apart while York prepares his claim to the crown and Jack Cade leads a rebellion. No role dominates: York, the Queen, the King, Gloucester, and Suffolk each hold between about 9% and 12% of the words. Gloucester speaks only in Acts 1 to 3, and Cade’s whole part sits in Act 4.

- Speaking roles: 63
- Scenes: 24
- Words: 24,416
- Speech time: 174 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| York | 380 | 2,988 | 12.2% | 21.3 | 9 |
| Queen | 317 | 2,504 | 10.3% | 17.9 | 9 |
| King | 313 | 2,478 | 10.1% | 17.7 | 11 |
| Gloucester | 300 | 2,329 | 9.5% | 16.6 | 7 |
| Suffolk | 295 | 2,295 | 9.4% | 16.4 | 7 |
| Cade | 243 | 2,137 | 8.8% | 15.3 | 6 |
| Warwick | 131 | 1,054 | 4.3% | 7.5 | 8 |
| Duchess | 119 | 959 | 3.9% | 6.9 | 5 |
| Cardinal | 103 | 815 | 3.3% | 5.8 | 6 |
| Salisbury | 95 | 719 | 2.9% | 5.1 | 8 |
| Buckingham | 73 | 555 | 2.3% | 4.0 | 9 |
| Captain | 64 | 480 | 2% | 3.4 | 1 |
| Clifford | 56 | 467 | 1.9% | 3.3 | 4 |
| Iden | 51 | 428 | 1.8% | 3.1 | 2 |
| Say | 48 | 360 | 1.5% | 2.6 | 2 |
| Young Clifford | 45 | 346 | 1.4% | 2.5 | 2 |
| Dick | 34 | 248 | 1% | 1.8 | 4 |
| Hume | 31 | 244 | 1% | 1.7 | 2 |
| Messenger | 31 | 227 | 0.9% | 1.6 | 4 |
| Peter | 25 | 212 | 0.9% | 1.5 | 2 |
| Richard | 24 | 186 | 0.8% | 1.3 | 3 |
| Bolingbroke | 22 | 180 | 0.7% | 1.3 | 1 |
| Somerset | 25 | 176 | 0.7% | 1.3 | 6 |
| Horner | 20 | 170 | 0.7% | 1.2 | 2 |
| Simpcox | 26 | 165 | 0.7% | 1.2 | 1 |
| Whitmore | 18 | 153 | 0.6% | 1.1 | 1 |
| Holland | 18 | 131 | 0.5% | 0.9 | 2 |
| Smith | 16 | 124 | 0.5% | 0.9 | 3 |
| Bevis | 15 | 117 | 0.5% | 0.8 | 2 |
| Stafford | 16 | 112 | 0.5% | 0.8 | 1 |
| Vaux | 11 | 84 | 0.3% | 0.6 | 1 |
| Scales | 8 | 64 | 0.3% | 0.5 | 1 |
| First Petitioner | 8 | 63 | 0.3% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Spirit | 9 | 61 | 0.2% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Stanley | 7 | 60 | 0.2% | 0.4 | 1 |
| First Gentleman | 7 | 56 | 0.2% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Wife | 8 | 54 | 0.2% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Brother | 7 | 46 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Post | 6 | 45 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Second Petitioner | 6 | 39 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| First Citizen | 4 | 38 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Sheriff | 4 | 33 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| First Murderer | 5 | 31 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Townsman | 4 | 28 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Margaret Jourdain | 4 | 27 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| First Neighbour | 3 | 21 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Commons | 3 | 20 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Michael | 4 | 20 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Clerk | 3 | 18 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Herald | 2 | 17 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Second Murderer | 2 | 17 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Mayor | 2 | 15 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Third Neighbour | 2 | 15 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Second ’Prentice | 2 | 14 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Servingman | 2 | 13 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Beadle | 2 | 12 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| First ’Prentice | 1 | 10 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Mate | 1 | 10 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Second Gentleman | 1 | 10 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Master | 1 | 9 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Edward | 1 | 8 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Second Neighbour | 1 | 8 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Soldier | 1 | 4 | 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; 2.1 = Act 2, Scene 1; 2.2 = Act 2, Scene 2; 2.3 = Act 2, Scene 3; 2.5 = Act 2, Scene 5; 3.1 = Act 3, Scene 1; 3.2 = Act 3, Scene 2; 3.3 = Act 3, Scene 3; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 4.3 = Act 4, Scene 3; 4.4 = Act 4, Scene 4; 4.5 = Act 4, Scene 5; 4.6 = Act 4, Scene 6; 4.7 = Act 4, Scene 7; 4.8 = Act 4, Scene 8; 4.9 = Act 4, Scene 9; 4.10 = Act 4, Scene 10; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1; 5.2 = Act 5, Scene 2; 5.3 = Act 5, Scene 3.

- **York**: 1.1 (451), 1.3 (112), 1.4 (221), 2.2 (448), 2.3 (91), 3.1 (749), 5.1 (714), 5.2 (110), 5.3 (92)
- **Queen**: 1.1 (63), 1.3 (441), 2.1 (81), 2.3 (101), 3.1 (537), 3.2 (1,000), 4.4 (113), 5.1 (73), 5.2 (95)
- **King**: 1.1 (190), 1.3 (74), 2.1 (269), 2.3 (221), 3.1 (344), 3.2 (603), 3.3 (122), 4.4 (131), 4.9 (257), 5.1 (259), 5.2 (8)
- **Gloucester**: 1.1 (448), 1.2 (197), 1.3 (170), 2.1 (550), 2.3 (112), 2.5 (313), 3.1 (539)
- **Suffolk**: 1.1 (149), 1.3 (342), 2.1 (93), 2.3 (17), 3.1 (490), 3.2 (755), 4.1 (449)
- **Cade**: 4.2 (677), 4.3 (109), 4.6 (82), 4.7 (603), 4.8 (245), 4.10 (421)
- **Warwick**: 1.1 (119), 1.3 (56), 2.2 (131), 3.2 (509), 3.3 (26), 5.1 (67), 5.2 (97), 5.3 (49)
- **Duchess**: 1.2 (401), 1.3 (59), 1.4 (30), 2.3 (7), 2.5 (462)
- **Cardinal**: 1.1 (235), 1.3 (21), 2.1 (178), 3.1 (243), 3.2 (17), 3.3 (121)
- **Salisbury**: 1.1 (222), 1.3 (14), 2.2 (64), 2.3 (23), 3.2 (215), 3.3 (7), 5.1 (103), 5.3 (71)
- **Buckingham**: 1.1 (52), 1.3 (54), 1.4 (59), 2.1 (81), 3.1 (34), 4.4 (39), 4.8 (82), 4.9 (25), 5.1 (129)
- **Captain**: 4.1 (480)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| York: “Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts,” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 418 | 53 |
| Queen: “Be woe for me, more wretched than he is.” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 396 | 49 |
| York: “Anjou and Maine are given to the French;” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 377 | 46 |
| Queen: “Can you not see? or will ye not observe” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 296 | 38 |
| Young Clifford: “Shame and confusion! all is on the rout;” | Act 5, Scene 2 | 273 | 35 |
| Duchess: “Ah, Gloucester, teach me to forget myself!” | Act 2, Scene 5 | 259 | 31 |
| Captain: “Pool! Sir Pool! lord!” | Act 4, Scene 1 | 251 | 34 |
| Gloucester: “Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous:” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 222 | 30 |
| Cade: “Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school: and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before them about matters they were not able to answer. Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when, indeed, only for that cause they have been most worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost thou not?” | Act 4, Scene 7 | 221 | 23 |
| Salisbury: “Sirs, stand apart; the king shall know your mind.” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 215 | 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.

- Warwick and Captain
- Warwick and Say
- Warwick and Dick
- Warwick and Hume
- Warwick and Messenger
- Warwick and Bolingbroke
- Warwick and Simpcox
- Warwick and Whitmore
- Warwick and Holland
- Warwick and Smith
- Warwick and Bevis
- Warwick and Stafford

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in Henry VI, Part II?

York, with about 380 lines and 2,988 words, 12.2% of everything spoken in the play. Queen is next, with about 317 lines (10.3%).

### How long is Henry VI, Part II?

The full text has 24,416 spoken words, about 174 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 VI, Part II?

63 named roles speak in this edition, across 24 scenes. 51 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/henry-vi-part-ii) (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).