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

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

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

**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

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; 2.4 = Act 2, Scene 4; 3.1 = Act 3, Scene 1; 3.2 = Act 3, Scene 2; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 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.

- **King**: 1.2 (539), 1.4 (137), 2.2 (240), 2.4 (697), 3.2 (445), 5.1 (611), 5.2 (94), 5.3 (426), 5.5 (173)
- **Wolsey**: 1.1 (27), 1.2 (303), 1.4 (268), 2.2 (228), 2.4 (354), 3.1 (283), 3.2 (1,736)
- **Queen Katherine**: 1.2 (372), 2.4 (668), 3.1 (968), 4.2 (876)
- **Buckingham**: 1.1 (842), 2.1 (635)
- **Norfolk**: 1.1 (739), 1.2 (61), 2.2 (275), 3.2 (353), 5.3 (22)
- **Chamberlain**: 1.3 (235), 1.4 (199), 2.2 (204), 2.3 (159), 3.2 (143), 5.3 (5), 5.4 (155)
- **Cranmer**: 5.1 (127), 5.2 (117), 5.3 (337), 5.5 (457)
- **First Gentleman**: 2.1 (438), 4.1 (255)
- **Gardiner**: 2.2 (14), 5.1 (319), 5.3 (328)
- **Suffolk**: 2.2 (118), 3.2 (419), 5.1 (44), 5.3 (41)
- **Second Gentleman**: 2.1 (279), 4.1 (289)
- **Surrey**: 3.2 (510), 5.3 (8)
- **Old Lady**: 2.3 (362), 5.1 (132)
- **Lovell**: 1.3 (187), 1.4 (20), 2.1 (47), 5.1 (217)

## 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 fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his face, for, o’ my conscience, twenty of the dog-days now reign in’s nose; all that stand about him are under the line, they need no other penance: that fire-drake did I hit three times on the head, and three times was his nose discharged against me; he stands there, like a mortar-piece, to blow us. There was a haberdasher’s wife of small wit near him, that railed upon me till her pinked porringer fell off her head, for kindling such a combustion in the state. I missed the meteor once, and hit that woman; who cried out “Clubs!” when I might see from far some forty truncheoners draw to her succour, which were the hope o’ the Strand, where she was quartered. They fell on; I made good my place: at length they came to the broom-staff to me; I defied ’em still: when suddenly a file of boys behind ’em, loose shot, delivered such a shower of pebbles, that I was fain to draw mine honour in, and let ’em win the work: the devil was amongst ’em, I think, surely.” | 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.

## How we count

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