Lady Windermere’s Fan: every role by lines, words, and stage time

Oscar Wilde. 16 speaking roles, 15,938 words, about 114 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Lady Windermere has the most to say in Lady Windermere’s Fan: about 468 lines and 3,800 words, 23.8% of the play. Wilde’s play follows a young wife who suspects her husband of an affair with the mysterious Mrs. Erlynne. Lady Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne are nearly equal, with about 24% and 22% of the words. Mrs. Erlynne does not speak until Act 2, so her part is concentrated in the last three acts.

Speaking roles: 16
Scenes: 4
Words: 15,938
Speech time: 114 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Lady Windermere	468	3,800	23.8%	27.1	4
Mrs. Erlynne	401	3,552	22.3%	25.4	3
Lord Windermere	266	2,057	12.9%	14.7	4
The Duchess of Berwick	217	1,961	12.3%	14.0	2
Lord Darlington	205	1,653	10.4%	11.8	3
Cecil Graham	112	884	5.5%	6.3	2
Lord Augustus	92	734	4.6%	5.2	3
Dumby	71	546	3.4%	3.9	2
Lady Plymdale	34	303	1.9%	2.2	1
Parker	28	162	1%	1.2	3
Hopper	17	109	0.7%	0.8	1
Rosalie	9	79	0.5%	0.6	1
Lady Jedburgh	6	45	0.3%	0.3	1
Lady Agatha	13	26	0.2%	0.2	2
Mr. Cowper-Cowper	2	15	0.1%	0.1	1
Lady Stutfield	2	12	0.1%	0.1	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	Act 1	Act 2	Act 3	Act 4
Lady Windermere
Mrs. Erlynne
Lord Windermere
The Duchess of Berwick
Lord Darlington
Cecil Graham
Lord Augustus
Dumby

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Mrs. Erlynne: “Believe what you choose about me. I am not wor…”	Act 3	383	39
Lady Windermere: “Why doesn’t he come? This waiting is horrible.…”	Act 3	319	32
The Duchess of Berwick: “Ah, what indeed, dear? That is the point. He g…”	Act 1	270	27
Mrs. Erlynne: “To bid goodbye to my dear daughter, of course.…”	Act 4	225	23
Lord Windermere: “I sometimes wish you had. I should have been s…”	Act 4	174	18
Lady Windermere: “She is sure to tell him. I can fancy a person …”	Act 4	155	16
Lord Darlington: “Yes; you have the courage. There may be six mo…”	Act 2	152	16
Mrs. Erlynne: “No; you see, tomorrow I am going to accept him…”	Act 2	149	15
The Duchess of Berwick: “Come and bid goodbye to Lady Windermere, and t…”	Act 1	146	15
The Duchess of Berwick: “Yes, we begin like that. It was only Berwick’s…”	Act 1	138	14

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.

Dumby and Rosalie
Lady Plymdale and Rosalie
Hopper and Rosalie
Rosalie and Lady Jedburgh
Rosalie and Lady Agatha
Rosalie and Mr. Cowper-Cowper
Rosalie and Lady Stutfield

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in Lady Windermere’s Fan?

Lady Windermere, with about 468 lines and 3,800 words, 23.8% of everything spoken in the play. Mrs. Erlynne is next, with about 401 lines (22.3%).

How long is Lady Windermere’s Fan?

The full text has 15,938 spoken words, about 114 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 Lady Windermere’s Fan?

16 named roles speak in this edition, across 4 scenes. 8 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.