The Two Noble Kinsmen: every role by lines, words, and stage time
William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. 35 speaking roles, 22,586 words, about 161 minutes of speech.
The Offbook team
Oct 8, 2026
Palamon has the most to say in The Two Noble Kinsmen: about 591 lines and 4,212 words, 18.6% of the play. Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s late play, drawn from Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, follows two cousins, Palamon and Arcite, who are captured together and fall in love with the same woman, Emilia. The two cousins hold about a third of the words between them. The Gaoler’s Daughter, who frees Palamon and goes mad for love of him, has a subplot of her own and almost as many words as Emilia, about 11% each, including several solo speeches.
- Speaking roles
- 35
- Scenes
- 24
- Words
- 22,586
- Speech time
- 161 min
Every role, largest first
| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palamon | 591 | 4,212 | 18.6% | 30.1 | 7 |
| Arcite | 514 | 3,629 | 16.1% | 25.9 | 10 |
| Emilia | 368 | 2,696 | 11.9% | 19.3 | 10 |
| Daughter | 310 | 2,558 | 11.3% | 18.3 | 9 |
| Theseus | 328 | 2,369 | 10.5% | 16.9 | 9 |
| Pirithous | 125 | 874 | 3.9% | 6.2 | 9 |
| Wooer | 104 | 753 | 3.3% | 5.4 | 4 |
| Gerrold | 106 | 749 | 3.3% | 5.4 | 1 |
| Gaoler | 119 | 725 | 3.2% | 5.2 | 6 |
| Hippolyta | 102 | 705 | 3.1% | 5.0 | 7 |
| Doctor | 87 | 660 | 2.9% | 4.7 | 2 |
| First Queen | 64 | 452 | 2% | 3.2 | 3 |
| Messenger | 49 | 353 | 1.6% | 2.5 | 3 |
| Second Queen | 40 | 274 | 1.2% | 2.0 | 3 |
| Third Queen | 37 | 254 | 1.1% | 1.8 | 3 |
| Second Countryman | 30 | 234 | 1% | 1.7 | 2 |
| Third Countryman | 25 | 161 | 0.7% | 1.2 | 2 |
| First Friend | 27 | 132 | 0.6% | 0.9 | 1 |
| Second Friend | 22 | 125 | 0.6% | 0.9 | 1 |
| First Countryman | 15 | 105 | 0.5% | 0.8 | 2 |
| Fourth Countryman | 17 | 103 | 0.5% | 0.7 | 2 |
| Valerius | 12 | 79 | 0.3% | 0.6 | 1 |
| First Servant | 13 | 71 | 0.3% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Woman | 14 | 66 | 0.3% | 0.5 | 1 |
| Herald | 9 | 62 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Brother | 10 | 44 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| First Knight | 7 | 40 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Second Knight | 4 | 20 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Gentleman | 4 | 18 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| All Queens | 3 | 10 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| All the Knights | 2 | 7 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Taborer | 1 | 7 | 0% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Nell | 1 | 4 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Third Knight | 1 | 3 | 0% | 0.0 | 1 |
| Bavian | 1 | 2 | 0% | 0.0 | 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 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palamon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arcite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emilia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daughter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theseus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pirithous | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wooer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerrold | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaoler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hippolyta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Queen |
The longest speeches
| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palamon: “Our stars must glister with new fire, or be” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 552 | 68 |
| Emilia: “Yet I may bind those wounds up, that must open” | Act 4, Scene 2 | 454 | 55 |
| Daughter: “Let all the dukes and all the devils roar,” | Act 2, Scene 6 | 344 | 39 |
| Daughter: “He has mistook the brake I meant; is gone” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 335 | 38 |
| Doctor: “That intemperate surfeit of her eye hath diste…” | Act 4, Scene 3 | 310 | 31 |
| Pirithous: “List, then. Your cousin” | Act 5, Scene 4 | 308 | 38 |
| Daughter: “Why should I love this gentleman? ’tis odds” | Act 2, Scene 4 | 286 | 33 |
| Arcite: “Farewell, sir!” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 279 | 36 |
| Emilia: “O sacred, shadowy, cold, and constant queen,” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 278 | 37 |
| Gerrold: “If you but favour, our country pastime made is.” | Act 3, Scene 5 | 261 | 33 |
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.
- Pirithous and Wooer
- Pirithous and Doctor
- Pirithous and First Friend
- Pirithous and Second Friend
- Pirithous and Valerius
- Pirithous and Woman
- Pirithous and Herald
- Pirithous and Brother
- Wooer and Gerrold
- Wooer and Hippolyta
- Wooer and First Queen
- Wooer and Second Queen
Roles and monologues in depth
Questions actors ask
Who has the most lines in The Two Noble Kinsmen?
Palamon, with about 591 lines and 4,212 words, 18.6% of everything spoken in the play. Arcite is next, with about 514 lines (16.1%).
How long is The Two Noble Kinsmen?
The full text has 22,586 spoken words, about 161 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 Two Noble Kinsmen?
35 named roles speak in this edition, across 24 scenes. 23 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.
Keep reading
- King John: every role by lines, words, and stage timeWilliam Shakespeare. Line counts, scenes, and the longest speeches.
- As You Like It: every role by lines, words, and stage timeWilliam Shakespeare. Line counts, scenes, and the longest speeches.
- The Duchess of Malfi: every role by lines, words, and stage timeJohn Webster. Line counts, scenes, and the longest speeches.
- Daughter: “Why should I love this gentleman?” (the Gaoler’s Daughter)Full text from The Two Noble Kinsmen, run time, cut points, and a first-letter version.