The Winter’s Tale: every role by lines, words, and stage time

William Shakespeare. 34 speaking roles, 24,533 words, about 175 minutes of speech.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Leontes has the most to say in The Winter’s Tale: about 681 lines and 4,860 words, 19.8% of the play. The Winter’s Tale follows King Leontes, whose sudden jealousy destroys his family, then jumps sixteen years to the shepherds of Bohemia. Leontes is the largest part, with about a fifth of the words, but he is absent for all of Act 4. Autolycus and Paulina come next, at about 10% each, and Autolycus’s whole part falls in Acts 4 and 5.

Speaking roles: 34
Scenes: 15
Words: 24,533
Speech time: 175 min

Every role, largest first

Role	Lines	Words	Share	Minutes	Scenes
Leontes	681	4,860	19.8%	34.7	6
Autolycus	276	2,389	9.7%	17.1	3
Paulina	332	2,370	9.7%	16.9	5
Camillo	295	2,088	8.5%	14.9	5
Polixenes	269	1,962	8%	14.0	4
Clown	191	1,591	6.5%	11.4	4
Hermione	211	1,573	6.4%	11.2	4
Florizel	205	1,391	5.7%	9.9	2
Shepherd	132	1,048	4.3%	7.5	3
Perdita	128	897	3.7%	6.4	3
Antigonus	110	784	3.2%	5.6	3
Third Gentleman	62	593	2.4%	4.2	1
Servant	44	375	1.5%	2.7	3
Time	32	266	1.1%	1.9	1
First Lord	36	241	1%	1.7	3
First Gentleman	25	221	0.9%	1.6	1
Officer	23	192	0.8%	1.4	1
Dion	27	184	0.8%	1.3	2
Archidamus	20	176	0.7%	1.3	1
Lord	24	171	0.7%	1.2	1
Mamillius	22	150	0.6%	1.1	2
Mopsa	21	142	0.6%	1.0	1
Emilia	20	141	0.6%	1.0	1
Cleomenes	23	136	0.6%	1.0	2
Second Gentleman	15	125	0.5%	0.9	1
Gentleman	18	119	0.5%	0.9	1
Mariner	11	78	0.3%	0.6	1
Gaoler	13	71	0.3%	0.5	1
Dorcas	13	66	0.3%	0.5	1
First Lady	9	49	0.2%	0.4	1
Second Lady	4	22	0.1%	0.2	1
Shepard	2	14	0.1%	0.1	1
First Servant	3	13	0.1%	0.1	1
Second Servant	2	12	0%	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	2.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	5.1	5.2	5.3
Leontes
Autolycus
Paulina
Camillo
Polixenes
Clown
Hermione
Florizel
Shepherd
Perdita
Antigonus
Third Gentleman

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words	Lines
Antigonus: “Come, poor babe:”	Act 3, Scene 3	346	44
Time: “I, that please some, try all, both joy and ter…”	Act 4, Scene 1	266	32
Hermione: “Since what I am to say must be but that”	Act 3, Scene 2	263	33
Leontes: “To your own bents dispose you: you’ll be found,”	Act 1, Scene 2	246	29
Autolycus: “When daffodils begin to peer, With heigh! the …”	Act 4, Scene 3	243	25
Autolycus: “Ha, ha! what a fool Honesty is! and Trust, his…”	Act 4, Scene 4	232	24
Paulina: “What studied torments, tyrant, hast for me?”	Act 3, Scene 2	218	28
Hermione: “Sir, spare your threats:”	Act 3, Scene 2	203	26
Polixenes: “As thou lovest me, Camillo, wipe not out the r…”	Act 4, Scene 2	176	18
Shepherd: “I would there were no age between sixteen and …”	Act 3, Scene 3	174	18

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.

Shepherd and Time
Shepherd and First Lord
Shepherd and Officer
Shepherd and Dion
Shepherd and Archidamus
Shepherd and Lord
Shepherd and Mamillius
Shepherd and Emilia
Shepherd and Cleomenes
Shepherd and Gentleman
Shepherd and Gaoler
Shepherd and First Lady

Questions actors ask

Who has the most lines in The Winter’s Tale?

Leontes, with about 681 lines and 4,860 words, 19.8% of everything spoken in the play. Autolycus is next, with about 276 lines (9.7%).

How long is The Winter’s Tale?

The full text has 24,533 spoken words, about 175 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 Winter’s Tale?

34 named roles speak in this edition, across 15 scenes. 22 of them have less than 2% of the words, which is why small parts are often doubled.