Henry VIII: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 43 speaking roles, 22,840 words, about 163 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

King has the most to say in Henry VIII: about 455 lines and 3,362 words, 14.7% of the play. Henry VIII traces the falls of Cardinal Wolsey and Queen Katherine and ends with the christening of the infant Elizabeth. The King and Wolsey are nearly equal, each with about 14% to 15% of the words, but Wolsey disappears after Act 3. Queen Katherine has about an eighth of the words in only four scenes.

Speaking roles: 43
Scenes: 17
Words: 22,840
Speech time: 163 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
King	455	3,362	14.7%	24.0	9
Wolsey	436	3,199	14%	22.9	7
Queen Katherine	375	2,884	12.6%	20.6	4
Buckingham	191	1,477	6.5%	10.6	2
Norfolk	211	1,450	6.3%	10.4	5
Chamberlain	149	1,100	4.8%	7.9	7
Cranmer	134	1,038	4.5%	7.4	4
First Gentleman	107	693	3%	5.0	2
Gardiner	91	661	2.9%	4.7	3
Suffolk	93	622	2.7%	4.4	4
Second Gentleman	88	568	2.5%	4.1	2
Surrey	81	518	2.3%	3.7	2
Old Lady	68	494	2.2%	3.5	2
Lovell	68	471	2.1%	3.4	4
Surveyor	61	446	2%	3.2	1
Third Gentleman	57	436	1.9%	3.1	1
Griffith	59	425	1.9%	3.0	2
Campeius	53	378	1.7%	2.7	3
Anne	58	374	1.6%	2.7	2
Man	40	356	1.6%	2.5	1
Sands	48	336	1.5%	2.4	2
Cromwell	50	304	1.3%	2.2	2
Porter	34	279	1.2%	2.0	1
Chancellor	32	229	1%	1.6	1
Abergavenny	18	114	0.5%	0.8	1
Brandon	14	84	0.4%	0.6	1
Guildford	9	69	0.3%	0.5	1
Capucius	11	65	0.3%	0.5	1
Butts	9	59	0.3%	0.4	1
Lincoln	8	51	0.2%	0.4	1
Keeper	7	40	0.2%	0.3	2
Patience	6	35	0.2%	0.3	1
Messenger	4	28	0.1%	0.2	1
Sergeant	5	28	0.1%	0.2	1
Servant	4	24	0.1%	0.2	1
Vaux	4	24	0.1%	0.2	1
Gentleman	4	23	0.1%	0.2	2
Denny	4	21	0.1%	0.2	1
Garter	3	21	0.1%	0.2	1
Crier	3	18	0.1%	0.1	1
Scribe	2	18	0.1%	0.1	1
First Secretary	2	8	0%	0.1	1
Boy	1	3	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	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	3.1	3.2	4.1	4.2	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5
King
Wolsey
Queen Katherine
Buckingham
Norfolk
Chamberlain
Cranmer
First Gentleman
Gardiner
Suffolk
Second Gentleman
Surrey
Old Lady
Lovell

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
King: “My lord cardinal,”	Act 2, Scene 4	441	55
Queen Katherine: “Sir, I desire you do me right and justice;”	Act 2, Scene 4	366	45
Cranmer: “Let me speak, sir,”	Act 5, Scene 5	355	42
Buckingham: “Nay, Sir Nicholas,”	Act 2, Scene 1	309	37
Wolsey: “Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear”	Act 3, Scene 2	266	30
Queen Katherine: “In which I have commended to his goodness”	Act 4, Scene 2	235	28
Buckingham: “Pray, give me favour, sir. This cunning cardinal”	Act 1, Scene 1	215	26
Wolsey: “What should this mean?”	Act 3, Scene 2	215	25
Buckingham: “All good people,”	Act 2, Scene 1	213	24
Man: “The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a…”	Act 5, Scene 4	204	21

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.

Chamberlain and First Gentleman
Chamberlain and Second Gentleman
Chamberlain and Surveyor
Chamberlain and Third Gentleman
Chamberlain and Griffith
Chamberlain and Abergavenny
Chamberlain and Brandon
Chamberlain and Capucius
Chamberlain and Butts
Chamberlain and Lincoln
Chamberlain and Patience
Chamberlain and Messenger

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Henry VIII?

King, with about 455 lines and 3,362 words, 14.7% of everything spoken in the play. Wolsey is next, with about 436 lines (14%).

How long is Henry VIII?

The full text has 22,840 spoken words, about 163 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 VIII?

43 named roles speak in this edition, across 17 scenes. 28 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.