# The Taming of the Shrew: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> William Shakespeare. 36 speaking roles, 20,396 words, about 146 minutes of speech.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

**Petruchio** has the most to say in The Taming of the Shrew: about 584 lines and 4,604 words, 22.6% of the play. The Taming of the Shrew follows Petruchio’s courtship of the strong-willed Katharina, framed by an induction in which a drunken tinker is tricked into believing he is a lord. Petruchio dominates, with more than a fifth of the words. Katharina has well under half his share, less than the servant Tranio, though both she and Petruchio speak in 8 of 14 sections.

- Speaking roles: 36
- Scenes: 14
- Words: 20,396
- Speech time: 146 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Petruchio](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/petruchio) | 584 | 4,604 | 22.6% | 32.9 | 8 |
| [Tranio](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/tranio) | 293 | 2,253 | 11% | 16.1 | 8 |
| [Katharina](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/katharina) | 221 | 1,760 | 8.6% | 12.6 | 8 |
| [Hortensio](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/hortensio) | 204 | 1,568 | 7.7% | 11.2 | 8 |
| Grumio | 172 | 1,447 | 7.1% | 10.3 | 4 |
| Lucentio | 188 | 1,372 | 6.7% | 9.8 | 8 |
| Gremio | 165 | 1,318 | 6.5% | 9.4 | 6 |
| Baptista | 173 | 1,286 | 6.3% | 9.2 | 6 |
| Lord | 136 | 1,057 | 5.2% | 7.6 | 2 |
| Biondello | 102 | 807 | 4% | 5.8 | 7 |
| Bianca | 69 | 543 | 2.7% | 3.9 | 7 |
| Sly | 62 | 519 | 2.5% | 3.7 | 3 |
| Pedant | 53 | 377 | 1.8% | 2.7 | 3 |
| Vincentio | 47 | 345 | 1.7% | 2.5 | 3 |
| Curtis | 26 | 169 | 0.8% | 1.2 | 1 |
| First Servant | 16 | 130 | 0.6% | 0.9 | 3 |
| Page | 16 | 121 | 0.6% | 0.9 | 2 |
| Tailor | 17 | 112 | 0.5% | 0.8 | 1 |
| Second Servant | 12 | 101 | 0.5% | 0.7 | 1 |
| Third Servant | 12 | 99 | 0.5% | 0.7 | 1 |
| Widow | 11 | 76 | 0.4% | 0.5 | 1 |
| First Huntsman | 9 | 74 | 0.4% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Messenger | 8 | 61 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Servant | 5 | 33 | 0.2% | 0.2 | 2 |
| A Player | 4 | 32 | 0.2% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Second Huntsman | 3 | 29 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Hostess | 3 | 26 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Nathaniel | 4 | 22 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Haberdasher | 1 | 8 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Hortensia | 1 | 8 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Peter | 2 | 8 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| All Serving-men | 1 | 5 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Players | 1 | 4 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Philip | 1 | 3 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Joseph | 1 | 2 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Nicholas | 1 | 2 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |

## Who speaks in which scene

Words each role speaks in each scene (scene: words). Scenes: Ind 1 = Induction scene 1; Ind 2 = Induction scene 2; 1.1 = Act 1, Scene 1; 1.2 = Act 1, Scene 2; 2.1 = Act 2, Scene 1; 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; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1; 5.2 = Act 5, Scene 2.

- **Petruchio**: 1.2 (615), 2.1 (1,302), 3.2 (485), 4.1 (574), 4.3 (705), 4.5 (325), 5.1 (132), 5.2 (466)
- **Tranio**: 1.1 (482), 1.2 (270), 2.1 (364), 3.2 (304), 4.2 (497), 4.4 (216), 5.1 (86), 5.2 (34)
- **Katharina**: 1.1 (110), 2.1 (390), 3.2 (236), 4.1 (25), 4.3 (366), 4.5 (180), 5.1 (37), 5.2 (416)
- **Hortensio**: 1.1 (208), 1.2 (581), 2.1 (125), 3.1 (221), 4.2 (203), 4.3 (72), 4.5 (62), 5.2 (96)
- **Grumio**: 1.2 (407), 3.2 (11), 4.1 (733), 4.3 (296)
- **Lucentio**: 1.1 (694), 1.2 (53), 3.1 (196), 3.2 (44), 4.2 (37), 4.4 (63), 5.1 (101), 5.2 (184)
- **Gremio**: 1.1 (212), 1.2 (297), 2.1 (422), 3.2 (277), 5.1 (87), 5.2 (23)
- **Baptista**: 1.1 (168), 2.1 (557), 3.2 (252), 4.4 (148), 5.1 (78), 5.2 (83)
- **Lord**: Ind 1 (821), Ind 2 (236)
- **Biondello**: 1.1 (42), 1.2 (11), 3.2 (318), 4.2 (61), 4.4 (213), 5.1 (127), 5.2 (35)
- **Bianca**: 1.1 (29), 2.1 (133), 3.1 (259), 3.2 (7), 4.2 (42), 5.1 (8), 5.2 (65)
- **Sly**: Ind 1 (69), Ind 2 (422), 1.1 (28)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Katharina: “Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,” | Act 5, Scene 2 | 364 | 44 |
| Lord: “Go, sirrah, take them to the buttery,” | Induction scene 1 | 284 | 37 |
| Petruchio: “Thus have I politicly begun my reign,” | Act 4, Scene 1 | 204 | 24 |
| Lord: “Even as a flattering dream or worthless fancy.” | Induction scene 1 | 197 | 25 |
| Lucentio: “Tranio, since for the great desire I had” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 174 | 24 |
| Biondello: “Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned, a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another laced, an old rusty sword ta’en out of the town-armoury, with a broken hilt, and chapeless; with two broken points: his horse hipped with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred; besides, possessed with the glanders and like to mose in the chine; troubled with the lampass, infected with the fashions, full of wingdalls, sped with spavins, rayed with yellows, past cure of the fives, stark spoiled with the staggers, begnawn with the bots, swayed in the back and shoulder-shotten; near-legged before and with a half-checked bit and a head-stall of sheeps leather which, being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often burst and now repaired with knots; one girth six time pieced and a woman’s crupper of velure, which hath two letters for her name fairly set down in studs, and here and there pieced with pack-thread.” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 172 | 18 |
| Petruchio: “Well, come, my Kate; we will unto your father’s” | Act 4, Scene 3 | 162 | 20 |
| Lord: “Hence comes it that your kindred shuns your house,” | Induction scene 2 | 149 | 19 |
| Petruchio: “They shall go forward, Kate, at thy command.” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 147 | 18 |
| Gremio: “Trembled and shook; for why, he stamp’d and swore,” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 137 | 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.

- Biondello and Curtis
- Biondello and Tailor
- Biondello and Second Servant
- Biondello and Third Servant
- Biondello and First Huntsman
- Biondello and Messenger
- Biondello and Servant
- Biondello and A Player
- Biondello and Second Huntsman
- Biondello and Hostess
- Biondello and Nathaniel
- Biondello and Haberdasher

## Roles and monologues in depth

- [How many lines does Petruchio have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/petruchio)
- [How many lines does Katharina have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/katharina)
- [How many lines does Tranio have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/tranio)
- [How many lines does Hortensio have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-taming-of-the-shrew/hortensio)

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in The Taming of the Shrew?

Petruchio, with about 584 lines and 4,604 words, 22.6% of everything spoken in the play. Tranio is next, with about 293 lines (11%).

### How long is The Taming of the Shrew?

The full text has 20,396 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 The Taming of the Shrew?

36 named roles speak in this edition, across 14 scenes. 24 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/the-taming-of-the-shrew) (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).