King John: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 27 speaking roles, 20,385 words, about 146 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Bastard has the most to say in King John: about 522 lines and 4,068 words, 20% of the play. King John follows the English king’s struggle to hold his crown against France, the Church, and the claim of young Arthur. The Bastard, not the king, has the most words, about a fifth, and speaks in 11 of 16 sections. Constance has about a tenth of the words, but all of it falls in three scenes in Acts 2 and 3.

Speaking roles: 27
Scenes: 16
Words: 20,385
Speech time: 146 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Bastard	522	4,068	20%	29.1	11
King John	437	3,306	16.2%	23.6	9
Constance	264	2,112	10.4%	15.1	3
King Philip	193	1,476	7.2%	10.5	3
Pandulph	164	1,263	6.2%	9.0	4
Salisbury	158	1,219	6%	8.7	6
Lewis	154	1,192	5.8%	8.5	5
Hubert	140	1,023	5%	7.3	6
Arthur	120	976	4.8%	7.0	5
Pembroke	78	604	3%	4.3	4
First Citizen	64	517	2.5%	3.7	1
Elinor	55	422	2.1%	3.0	4
Blanch	42	332	1.6%	2.4	2
Melun	39	309	1.5%	2.2	1
Chatillon	41	294	1.4%	2.1	2
Austria	35	239	1.2%	1.7	2
Prince Henry	29	221	1.1%	1.6	1
Messenger	28	210	1%	1.5	3
Robert	22	180	0.9%	1.3	1
Lady Faulconbridge	15	121	0.6%	0.9	1
English Herald	13	100	0.5%	0.7	1
French Herald	12	87	0.4%	0.6	1
Bigot	8	53	0.3%	0.4	1
Essex	3	24	0.1%	0.2	1
First Executioner	2	19	0.1%	0.1	1
Peter	1	8	0%	0.1	1
Gurney	1	4	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	2.1	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.4	4.1	4.2	4.3	5.1	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.7
Bastard
King John
Constance
King Philip
Pandulph
Salisbury
Lewis
Hubert
Arthur
Pembroke
First Citizen
Elinor

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Bastard: “Brother, adieu: good fortune come to thee!”	Act 1, Scene 1	319	42
Bastard: “Mad world! mad kings! mad composition!”	Act 2, Scene 1	285	38
Pandulph: “So makest thou faith an enemy to faith;”	Act 3, Scene 1	275	35
First Citizen: “That daughter there of Spain, the Lady Blanch,”	Act 2, Scene 1	264	33
Lewis: “Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back:”	Act 5, Scene 2	253	31
King Philip: “When I have said, make answer to us both.”	Act 2, Scene 1	242	32
Salisbury: “Upon our sides it never shall be broken.”	Act 5, Scene 2	242	32
Bastard: “By all the blood that ever fury breathed,”	Act 5, Scene 2	241	32
King Philip: “Good reverend father, make my person yours,”	Act 3, Scene 1	222	29
Constance: “Gone to be married! gone to swear a peace!”	Act 3, Scene 1	217	26

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.

Arthur and Melun
Arthur and Prince Henry
Arthur and Messenger
Arthur and Robert
Arthur and Lady Faulconbridge
Arthur and Essex
Arthur and Peter
Arthur and Gurney
Pembroke and First Citizen
Pembroke and Elinor
Pembroke and Blanch
Pembroke and Chatillon

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in King John?

Bastard, with about 522 lines and 4,068 words, 20% of everything spoken in the play. King John is next, with about 437 lines (16.2%).

How long is King John?

The full text has 20,385 spoken words, about 146 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 King John?

27 named roles speak in this edition, across 16 scenes. 15 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.