# Measure for Measure: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> William Shakespeare. 23 speaking roles, 21,225 words, about 152 minutes of speech.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/measure-for-measure
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

**Duke** has the most to say in Measure for Measure: about 842 lines and 6,539 words, 30.8% of the play. Measure for Measure follows Isabella, a young novice, as she pleads with the deputy Angelo for her brother’s life while the Duke watches in disguise. The Duke carries nearly a third of the words, more than twice Isabella’s share. Angelo and Lucio are almost the same size, at about 11% each, and Claudio speaks in only three sections.

- Speaking roles: 23
- Scenes: 17
- Words: 21,225
- Speech time: 152 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Duke | 842 | 6,539 | 30.8% | 46.7 | 10 |
| Isabella | 424 | 3,011 | 14.2% | 21.5 | 8 |
| [Angelo](https://www.offbook.com/plays/measure-for-measure/angelo) | 319 | 2,366 | 11.1% | 16.9 | 6 |
| Lucio | 301 | 2,306 | 10.9% | 16.5 | 6 |
| Escalus | 181 | 1,410 | 6.6% | 10.1 | 5 |
| Pompey | 155 | 1,291 | 6.1% | 9.2 | 5 |
| Provost | 159 | 1,126 | 5.3% | 8.0 | 9 |
| Claudio | 114 | 796 | 3.8% | 5.7 | 3 |
| Elbow | 72 | 598 | 2.8% | 4.3 | 2 |
| Mariana | 68 | 480 | 2.3% | 3.4 | 3 |
| Friar Peter | 36 | 273 | 1.3% | 2.0 | 3 |
| Mistress Overdone | 29 | 226 | 1.1% | 1.6 | 2 |
| First Gentleman | 23 | 168 | 0.8% | 1.2 | 1 |
| Abhorson | 21 | 141 | 0.7% | 1.0 | 2 |
| Barnardine | 15 | 112 | 0.5% | 0.8 | 1 |
| Francisca | 9 | 76 | 0.4% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Juliet | 10 | 63 | 0.3% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Second Gentleman | 10 | 59 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Froth | 11 | 57 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Messenger | 5 | 41 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Friar Thomas | 6 | 35 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Servant | 5 | 34 | 0.2% | 0.2 | 2 |
| Justice | 3 | 10 | 0% | 0.1 | 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; 4.3 = Act 4, Scene 3; 4.4 = Act 4, Scene 4; 4.5 = Act 4, Scene 5; 4.6 = Act 4, Scene 6; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1.

- **Duke**: 1.1 (493), 1.3 (407), 2.3 (182), 3.1 (1,126), 3.2 (805), 4.1 (283), 4.2 (678), 4.3 (595), 4.5 (104), 5.1 (1,866)
- **Isabella**: 1.4 (174), 2.2 (695), 2.4 (562), 3.1 (675), 4.1 (173), 4.3 (55), 4.6 (70), 5.1 (607)
- **Angelo**: 1.1 (77), 2.1 (264), 2.2 (603), 2.4 (898), 4.4 (215), 5.1 (309)
- **Lucio**: 1.2 (383), 1.4 (456), 2.2 (94), 3.2 (767), 4.3 (185), 5.1 (421)
- **Escalus**: 1.1 (75), 2.1 (740), 3.2 (231), 4.4 (46), 5.1 (318)
- **Pompey**: 1.2 (129), 2.1 (610), 3.2 (111), 4.2 (196), 4.3 (245)
- **Provost**: 1.2 (19), 2.1 (6), 2.2 (115), 2.3 (85), 3.1 (29), 3.2 (28), 4.2 (646), 4.3 (115), 5.1 (83)
- **Claudio**: 1.2 (432), 3.1 (343), 4.2 (21)
- **Elbow**: 2.1 (458), 3.2 (140)
- **Mariana**: 4.1 (93), 4.6 (8), 5.1 (379)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Duke: “Be absolute for death; either death or life” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 316 | 37 |
| Angelo: “From thee, even from thy virtue!” | Act 2, Scene 2 | 211 | 27 |
| Duke: “This forenamed maid hath yet in her the continuance of her first affection: his unjust unkindness, that in all reason should have quenched her love, hath, like an impediment in the current, made it more violent and unruly. Go you to Angelo; answer his requiring with a plausible obedience; agree with his demands to the point; only refer yourself to this advantage, first, that your stay with him may not be long; that the time may have all shadow and silence in it; and the place answer to convenience. This being granted in course—and now follows all—we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up your appointment, go in your place; if the encounter acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to her recompense: and here, by this, is your brother saved, your honour untainted, the poor Mariana advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled. The maid will I frame and make fit for his attempt. If you think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof. What think you of it?” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 182 | 19 |
| Lucio: “This is the point.” | Act 1, Scene 4 | 178 | 23 |
| Duke: “I do fear, too dreadful:” | Act 1, Scene 3 | 175 | 21 |
| Pompey: “I am as well acquainted here as I was in our house of profession: one would think it were Mistress Overdone’s own house, for here be many of her old customers. First, here’s young Master Rash; he’s in for a commodity of brown paper and old ginger, nine-score and seventeen pounds; of which he made five marks, ready money: marry, then ginger was not much in request, for the old women were all dead. Then is there here one Master Caper, at the suit of Master Three-pile the mercer, for some four suits of peach-coloured satin, which now peaches him a beggar. Then have we here young Dizy, and young Master Deep-vow, and Master Copper-spur, and Master Starve-lackey the rapier and dagger man, and young Drop-heir that killed lusty Pudding, and Master Forthlight the tilter, and brave Master Shooty the great traveller, and wild Half-can that stabbed Pots, and, I think, forty more; all great doers in our trade, and are now “for the Lord’s sake.”” | Act 4, Scene 3 | 166 | 17 |
| Duke: “Angelo,” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 157 | 22 |
| Duke: “Of government the properties to unfold,” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 154 | 20 |
| Angelo: “When I would pray and think, I think and pray” | Act 2, Scene 4 | 144 | 18 |
| Angelo: “Who will believe thee, Isabel?” | Act 2, Scene 4 | 133 | 17 |

## 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.

- Claudio and Elbow
- Claudio and Mariana
- Claudio and Friar Peter
- Claudio and Barnardine
- Claudio and Francisca
- Claudio and Juliet
- Claudio and Froth
- Claudio and Friar Thomas
- Claudio and Servant
- Claudio and Justice
- Elbow and Mariana
- Elbow and Friar Peter

## Roles and monologues in depth

- [How many lines does Angelo have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/measure-for-measure/angelo)

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in Measure for Measure?

Duke, with about 842 lines and 6,539 words, 30.8% of everything spoken in the play. Isabella is next, with about 424 lines (14.2%).

### How long is Measure for Measure?

The full text has 21,225 spoken words, about 152 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 Measure for Measure?

23 named roles speak in this edition, across 17 scenes. 13 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/measure-for-measure) (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).