The Tempest: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 19 speaking roles, 15,827 words, about 113 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Prospero has the most to say in The Tempest: about 667 lines and 4,793 words, 30.3% of the play. The Tempest follows Prospero, an exiled duke and magician, as he raises a storm to bring his enemies to his island. Prospero holds about 30% of the words and speaks the Epilogue, but he is silent through all of Act 2. Below him the load is evenly spread: Caliban, Stephano, Gonzalo, and Ariel each have about 7% to 9%.

Speaking roles: 19
Scenes: 10
Words: 15,827
Speech time: 113 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Prospero	667	4,793	30.3%	34.2	6
Caliban	177	1,346	8.5%	9.6	5
Stephano	152	1,217	7.7%	8.7	4
Gonzalo	165	1,205	7.6%	8.6	4
Ariel	164	1,119	7.1%	8.0	6
Antonio	145	979	6.2%	7.0	4
Ferdinand	139	979	6.2%	7.0	4
Miranda	142	911	5.8%	6.5	4
Trinculo	102	818	5.2%	5.8	4
Alonso	108	747	4.7%	5.3	4
Sebastian	119	707	4.5%	5.1	4
Boatswain	43	351	2.2%	2.5	2
Iris	41	293	1.9%	2.1	1
Ceres	24	154	1%	1.1	1
Francisco	11	79	0.5%	0.6	2
Adrian	11	64	0.4%	0.5	2
Juno	7	41	0.3%	0.3	1
Master	3	16	0.1%	0.1	1
Mariners	1	8	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	1.1	1.2	2.1	2.2	3.1	3.2	3.3	4.1	5.1	Epi
Prospero
Caliban
Stephano
Gonzalo
Ariel
Antonio
Ferdinand
Miranda
Trinculo
Alonso
Sebastian
Boatswain

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Prospero: “Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and …”	Act 5, Scene 1	424	55
Trinculo: “Here’s neither bush nor shrub, to bear off any…”	Act 2, Scene 2	242	25
Ariel: “You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,”	Act 3, Scene 3	237	30
Prospero: “In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords”	Act 5, Scene 1	152	19
Caliban: “All the infections that the sun sucks up”	Act 2, Scene 2	144	18
Prospero: “I pray thee, mark me.”	Act 1, Scene 2	140	19
Caliban: “Why, as I told thee, ’tis a custom with him,”	Act 3, Scene 2	139	17
Prospero: “You do look, my son, in a moved sort,”	Act 4, Scene 1	138	18
Caliban: “I must eat my dinner.”	Act 1, Scene 2	129	15
Antonio: “Ay, sir; where lies that? if ’twere a kibe,”	Act 2, Scene 1	127	15

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.

Alonso and Iris
Alonso and Ceres
Alonso and Juno
Sebastian and Iris
Sebastian and Ceres
Sebastian and Juno
Boatswain and Iris
Boatswain and Ceres
Boatswain and Francisco
Boatswain and Adrian
Boatswain and Juno
Iris and Francisco

Roles and monologues in depth

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in The Tempest?

Prospero, with about 667 lines and 4,793 words, 30.3% of everything spoken in the play. Caliban is next, with about 177 lines (8.5%).

How long is The Tempest?

The full text has 15,827 spoken words, about 113 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 Tempest?

19 named roles speak in this edition, across 10 scenes. 7 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.