# Titus Andronicus: every role by lines, words, and stage time

> William Shakespeare. 25 speaking roles, 19,808 words, about 142 minutes of speech.

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

**Titus** has the most to say in Titus Andronicus: about 717 lines and 5,722 words, 28.9% of the play. Titus Andronicus follows a Roman general caught in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths. Titus holds nearly 30% of the words and speaks in 9 of 14 sections. Aaron, Tamora’s lover, has the second-largest part, and Marcus, Titus’s brother, appears in as many sections as Titus does.

- Speaking roles: 25
- Scenes: 14
- Words: 19,808
- Speech time: 142 min

## Every role, largest first

| Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Titus | 717 | 5,722 | 28.9% | 40.9 | 9 |
| Aaron | 355 | 2,804 | 14.2% | 20.0 | 6 |
| Marcus | 310 | 2,377 | 12% | 17.0 | 9 |
| Tamora | 257 | 1,985 | 10% | 14.2 | 5 |
| Saturninus | 210 | 1,591 | 8% | 11.4 | 5 |
| Lucius | 188 | 1,464 | 7.4% | 10.5 | 4 |
| Demetrius | 94 | 719 | 3.6% | 5.1 | 7 |
| Bassianus | 63 | 460 | 2.3% | 3.3 | 3 |
| Lavinia | 59 | 459 | 2.3% | 3.3 | 3 |
| Chiron | 52 | 403 | 2% | 2.9 | 6 |
| Young Lucius | 44 | 351 | 1.8% | 2.5 | 4 |
| Martius | 30 | 231 | 1.2% | 1.7 | 2 |
| Quintus | 27 | 228 | 1.2% | 1.6 | 2 |
| Clown | 23 | 172 | 0.9% | 1.2 | 2 |
| Second Goth | 20 | 159 | 0.8% | 1.1 | 1 |
| Aemilius | 21 | 154 | 0.8% | 1.1 | 3 |
| Nurse | 19 | 136 | 0.7% | 1.0 | 1 |
| Publius | 14 | 113 | 0.6% | 0.8 | 2 |
| First Goth | 11 | 79 | 0.4% | 0.6 | 2 |
| Messenger | 7 | 56 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 |
| Captain | 6 | 41 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 1 |
| Mutius | 4 | 25 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 |
| Tribunes | 3 | 19 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| Third Goth | 2 | 15 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |
| All the Goths | 1 | 10 | 0.1% | 0.1 | 1 |

## Who speaks in which scene

Words each role speaks in each scene (scene: words). Scenes: 1.1 = Act 1, Scene 1; 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; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 4.3 = Act 4, Scene 3; 4.4 = Act 4, Scene 4; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1; 5.2 = Act 5, Scene 2; 5.3 = Act 5, Scene 3.

- **Titus**: 1.1 (1,026), 2.2 (124), 2.3 (73), 3.1 (1,555), 3.2 (586), 4.1 (464), 4.3 (592), 5.2 (1,077), 5.3 (225)
- **Aaron**: 2.1 (643), 2.3 (303), 3.1 (161), 4.2 (899), 5.1 (714), 5.3 (84)
- **Marcus**: 1.1 (534), 2.2 (19), 2.4 (385), 3.1 (362), 3.2 (83), 4.1 (367), 4.3 (155), 5.2 (8), 5.3 (464)
- **Tamora**: 1.1 (506), 2.3 (651), 4.4 (333), 5.2 (480), 5.3 (15)
- **Saturninus**: 1.1 (791), 2.2 (35), 2.3 (281), 4.4 (418), 5.3 (66)
- **Lucius**: 1.1 (234), 3.1 (302), 5.1 (317), 5.3 (611)
- **Demetrius**: 1.1 (70), 2.1 (249), 2.2 (18), 2.3 (105), 2.4 (57), 4.2 (205), 5.2 (15)
- **Bassianus**: 1.1 (362), 2.2 (4), 2.3 (94)
- **Lavinia**: 1.1 (75), 2.2 (12), 2.3 (372)
- **Chiron**: 1.1 (6), 2.1 (151), 2.3 (87), 2.4 (36), 4.2 (89), 5.2 (34)

## The longest speeches

| Speech | Scene | Words | Lines |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Marcus: “Who is this? my niece, that flies away so fast!” | Act 2, Scene 4 | 385 | 47 |
| Titus: “Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound.” | Act 5, Scene 2 | 335 | 40 |
| Aaron: “For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar:” | Act 2, Scene 1 | 224 | 29 |
| Marcus: “You sad-faced men, people and sons of Rome,” | Act 5, Scene 3 | 218 | 29 |
| Titus: “Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay!” | Act 3, Scene 1 | 209 | 26 |
| Marcus: “Princes, that strive by factions and by friends” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 200 | 28 |
| Saturninus: “Why, lords, what wrongs are these! was ever seen” | Act 4, Scene 4 | 200 | 26 |
| Titus: “Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 197 | 26 |
| Tamora: “Not so, my lord; the gods of Rome forfend” | Act 1, Scene 1 | 197 | 25 |
| Titus: “How now! has sorrow made thee dote already?” | Act 3, Scene 2 | 196 | 23 |

## 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.

- Demetrius and Clown
- Demetrius and Second Goth
- Demetrius and Aemilius
- Demetrius and First Goth
- Demetrius and Messenger
- Demetrius and Third Goth
- Demetrius and All the Goths
- Bassianus and Young Lucius
- Bassianus and Clown
- Bassianus and Second Goth
- Bassianus and Aemilius
- Bassianus and Nurse

## Questions actors ask

### Who has the most lines in Titus Andronicus?

Titus, with about 717 lines and 5,722 words, 28.9% of everything spoken in the play. Aaron is next, with about 355 lines (14.2%).

### How long is Titus Andronicus?

The full text has 19,808 spoken words, about 142 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 Titus Andronicus?

25 named roles speak in this edition, across 14 scenes. 15 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/titus-andronicus) (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).