# Tartuffe: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> Molière, translated by Curtis Hidden Page. 11 speaking roles, 15,918 words, about 114 minutes of speech.

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

**Dorine** has the most to say in Tartuffe: about 387 lines and 2,882 words, 18.1% of the play. Molière’s comedy follows Orgon, a wealthy father who falls under the spell of a religious hypocrite. Dorine and Orgon are almost level at the top with about 18% of the words each, and Orgon appears in the most scenes, 19 of 33. Tartuffe himself does not speak until Act 3, Scene 2, yet still holds about 15% of the words.

- Speaking roles: 11
- Scenes: 33
- Words: 15,918
- Speech time: 114 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dorine | 387 | 2,882 | 18.1% | 20.6 | 15 |
| Orgon | 399 | 2,816 | 17.7% | 20.1 | 19 |
| Tartuffe | 303 | 2,321 | 14.6% | 16.6 | 8 |
| Cléante | 274 | 2,078 | 13.1% | 14.8 | 15 |
| Elmire | 237 | 1,824 | 11.5% | 13.0 | 14 |
| Madame Pernelle | 124 | 947 | 5.9% | 6.8 | 4 |
| Mariane | 130 | 863 | 5.4% | 6.2 | 7 |
| Valère | 102 | 706 | 4.4% | 5.0 | 2 |
| Damis | 94 | 669 | 4.2% | 4.8 | 10 |
| Mr. Loyal | 65 | 494 | 3.1% | 3.5 | 1 |
| The Officer | 44 | 318 | 2% | 2.3 | 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; 1.5 = Act 1, Scene 5; 1.6 = Act 1, Scene 6; 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; 3.3 = Act 3, Scene 3; 3.4 = Act 3, Scene 4; 3.5 = Act 3, Scene 5; 3.6 = Act 3, Scene 6; 3.7 = Act 3, Scene 7; 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; 4.7 = Act 4, Scene 7; 4.8 = Act 4, Scene 8; 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; 5.6 = Act 5, Scene 6; 5.7 = Act 5, Scene 7; 5.8 = Act 5, Scene 8.

- **Dorine**: 1.1 (410), 1.2 (306), 1.4 (2), 1.5 (188), 2.2 (543), 2.3 (548), 2.4 (361), 3.1 (186), 3.2 (123), 4.2 (56), 4.3 (15), 5.3 (19), 5.4 (61), 5.5 (46), 5.7 (18)
- **Orgon**: 1.5 (60), 1.6 (464), 2.1 (79), 2.2 (618), 3.6 (240), 3.7 (173), 4.3 (225), 4.4 (22), 4.6 (25), 4.7 (100), 4.8 (54), 5.1 (174), 5.2 (10), 5.3 (297), 5.4 (110), 5.5 (37), 5.6 (49), 5.7 (33), 5.8 (46)
- **Tartuffe**: 3.2 (93), 3.3 (813), 3.6 (264), 3.7 (191), 4.1 (259), 4.5 (458), 4.7 (99), 5.7 (144)
- **Cléante**: 1.1 (86), 1.2 (35), 1.3 (17), 1.5 (19), 1.6 (875), 4.1 (392), 4.3 (8), 5.1 (273), 5.2 (34), 5.3 (93), 5.4 (49), 5.5 (10), 5.6 (26), 5.7 (94), 5.8 (67)
- **Elmire**: 1.1 (27), 1.3 (36), 3.3 (310), 3.4 (51), 3.5 (49), 4.3 (288), 4.4 (214), 4.5 (688), 4.6 (61), 4.7 (17), 4.8 (17), 5.3 (34), 5.5 (27), 5.7 (5)
- **Madame Pernelle**: 1.1 (776), 5.3 (160), 5.5 (6), 5.7 (5)
- **Mariane**: 1.1 (2), 2.1 (33), 2.2 (56), 2.3 (295), 2.4 (285), 4.3 (177), 5.7 (15)
- **Valère**: 2.4 (498), 5.6 (208)
- **Damis**: 1.1 (84), 1.4 (56), 3.1 (72), 3.4 (207), 3.5 (88), 3.6 (47), 5.2 (63), 5.3 (7), 5.4 (37), 5.7 (8)
- **Mr. Loyal**: 5.4 (494)
- **The Officer**: 5.7 (318)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cléante: “I’m not the sole expounder of the doctrine,” | Act 1, Scene 6 | 424 | 57 |
| The Officer: “You” | Act 5, Scene 7 | 285 | 39 |
| Tartuffe: “Though pious, I am nonetheless a man;” | Act 3, Scene 3 | 277 | 35 |
| Dorine: “Her case is nothing, though, beside her son’s!” | Act 1, Scene 2 | 273 | 33 |
| Madame Pernelle: “There! That’s the kind of rigmarole to please you,” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 256 | 33 |
| Orgon: “Ah! If you’d seen him, as I saw him first,” | Act 1, Scene 6 | 255 | 30 |
| Elmire: “If that refusal has offended you,” | Act 4, Scene 5 | 227 | 28 |
| Tartuffe: “Love for the beauty of eternal things” | Act 3, Scene 3 | 224 | 28 |
| Cléante: “That is the usual strain of all your kind;” | Act 1, Scene 6 | 220 | 28 |
| Dorine: “Yes, so he says himself. Such vanity” | Act 2, Scene 2 | 177 | 22 |

## 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.

- Valère and Damis
- Valère and Mr. Loyal
- Valère and The Officer
- Mr. Loyal and The Officer

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in Tartuffe?

Dorine, with about 387 lines and 2,882 words, 18.1% of everything spoken in the play. Orgon is next, with about 399 lines (17.7%).

### How long is Tartuffe?

The full text has 15,918 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 Tartuffe?

11 named roles speak in this edition, across 33 scenes. 0 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/moliere/tartuffe/curtis-hidden-page) (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).