# Twelfth Night: every role by lines, words, and stage time > William Shakespeare. 18 speaking roles, 19,416 words, about 139 minutes of speech. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/plays/twelfth-night - Last updated: 2026-10-08 **Sir Toby** has the most to say in Twelfth Night: about 342 lines and 2,671 words, 13.8% of the play. Twelfth Night spreads its words evenly: Sir Toby, Viola, Feste, Olivia, and Malvolio all have roughly the same amount to say. Much of the comedy is in prose, so line counts look smaller than the stage time these parts really need. - Speaking roles: 18 - Scenes: 18 - Words: 19,416 - Speech time: 139 min ## Every role, largest first | Role | Lines | Words | Share | Minutes | Scenes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Sir Toby | 342 | 2,671 | 13.8% | 19.1 | 10 | | [Viola](https://www.offbook.com/plays/twelfth-night/viola) | 339 | 2,566 | 13.2% | 18.3 | 8 | | Feste | 290 | 2,423 | 12.5% | 17.3 | 7 | | Olivia | 309 | 2,303 | 11.9% | 16.5 | 6 | | [Malvolio](https://www.offbook.com/plays/twelfth-night/malvolio) | 271 | 2,225 | 11.5% | 15.9 | 7 | | Orsino | 218 | 1,614 | 8.3% | 11.5 | 4 | | Maria | 148 | 1,213 | 6.2% | 8.7 | 7 | | Sir Andrew | 155 | 1,161 | 6% | 8.3 | 8 | | Sebastian | 124 | 1,002 | 5.2% | 7.2 | 5 | | Fabian | 112 | 858 | 4.4% | 6.1 | 4 | | Antonio | 106 | 801 | 4.1% | 5.7 | 4 | | Captain | 32 | 239 | 1.2% | 1.7 | 1 | | Valentine | 13 | 102 | 0.5% | 0.7 | 2 | | First Officer | 12 | 100 | 0.5% | 0.7 | 2 | | Priest | 8 | 57 | 0.3% | 0.4 | 1 | | Curio | 7 | 41 | 0.2% | 0.3 | 2 | | Servant | 3 | 21 | 0.1% | 0.2 | 1 | | Second Officer | 3 | 19 | 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; 1.2 = Act 1, Scene 2; 1.3 = Act 1, Scene 3; 1.4 = Act 1, Scene 4; 1.5 = Act 1, Scene 5; 2.1 = Act 2, Scene 1; 2.2 = Act 2, Scene 2; 2.3 = Act 2, Scene 3; 2.4 = Act 2, Scene 4; 2.5 = Act 2, Scene 5; 3.1 = Act 3, Scene 1; 3.2 = Act 3, Scene 2; 3.3 = Act 3, Scene 3; 3.4 = Act 3, Scene 4; 4.1 = Act 4, Scene 1; 4.2 = Act 4, Scene 2; 4.3 = Act 4, Scene 3; 5.1 = Act 5, Scene 1. - **Sir Toby**: 1.3 (455), 1.5 (44), 2.3 (398), 2.5 (226), 3.1 (36), 3.2 (267), 3.4 (1,056), 4.1 (54), 4.2 (88), 5.1 (47) - **Viola**: 1.2 (242), 1.4 (95), 1.5 (555), 2.2 (231), 2.4 (242), 3.1 (470), 3.4 (394), 5.1 (337) - **Feste**: 1.5 (480), 2.3 (203), 2.4 (178), 3.1 (324), 4.1 (162), 4.2 (516), 5.1 (560) - **Olivia**: 1.5 (904), 3.1 (426), 3.4 (297), 4.1 (128), 4.3 (98), 5.1 (450) - **Malvolio**: 1.5 (275), 2.2 (113), 2.3 (162), 2.5 (840), 3.4 (390), 4.2 (301), 5.1 (144) - **Orsino**: 1.1 (242), 1.4 (201), 2.4 (496), 5.1 (675) - **Maria**: 1.3 (213), 1.5 (173), 2.3 (310), 2.5 (153), 3.2 (135), 3.4 (187), 4.2 (42) - **Sir Andrew**: 1.3 (334), 2.3 (337), 2.5 (69), 3.1 (32), 3.2 (84), 3.4 (114), 4.1 (48), 5.1 (143) - **Sebastian**: 2.1 (306), 3.3 (138), 4.1 (122), 4.3 (195), 5.1 (241) - **Fabian**: 2.5 (200), 3.2 (187), 3.4 (253), 5.1 (218) - **Antonio**: 2.1 (89), 3.3 (257), 3.4 (250), 5.1 (205) ## The longest speeches | Speech | Scene | Words | Lines | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Malvolio: “M, O, A, I; this simulation is not as the former: and yet, to crush this a little, it would bow to me, for every one of these letters are in my name. Soft! here follows prose.” | Act 2, Scene 5 | 371 | 38 | | [Viola: “I left no ring with her: what means this lady?”](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/i-left-no-ring-with-her) | Act 2, Scene 2 | 208 | 25 | | Malvolio: “O, ho! do you come near me now? no worse man than Sir Toby to look to me! This concurs directly with the letter: she sends him on purpose, that I may appear stubborn to him; for she incites me to that in the letter. “Cast thy humble slough,” says she; “be opposite with a kinsman, surly with servants; let thy tongue tang with arguments of state; put thyself into the trick of singularity;” and consequently sets down the manner how; as, a sad face, a reverend carriage, a slow tongue, in the habit of some sir of note, and so forth. I have limed her; but it is Jove’s doing, and Jove make me thankful! And when she went away now, “Let this fellow be looked to:” fellow! not Malvolio, nor after my degree, but fellow. Why, every thing adheres together, that no dram of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple, no obstacle, no incredulous or unsafe circumstance—What can be said? Nothing that can be can come between me and the full prospect of my hopes. Well, Jove, not I, is the doer of this, and he is to be thanked.” | Act 3, Scene 4 | 194 | 20 | | Sebastian: “This is the air; that is the glorious sun;” | Act 4, Scene 3 | 178 | 21 | | Antonio: “Orsino, noble sir,” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 157 | 21 | | Malvolio: “Lady, you have. Pray you, peruse that letter.” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 127 | 15 | | Orsino: “Why should I not, had I the heart to do it,” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 126 | 15 | | Viola: “There is a fair behavior in thee, captain;” | Act 1, Scene 2 | 125 | 15 | | Feste: “When that I was and a little tiny boy, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, A foolish thing was but a toy, For the rain it raineth every day.” | Act 5, Scene 1 | 123 | 13 | | Sebastian: “No, sooth, sir: my determinate voyage is mere extravagancy. But I perceive in you so excellent a touch of modesty, that you will not extort from me what I am willing to keep in; therefore it charges me in manners the rather to express myself. You must know of me then, Antonio, my name is Sebastian, which I called Roderigo. My father was that Sebastian of Messaline, whom I know you have heard of. He left behind him myself and a sister, both born in an hour: if the heavens had been pleased, would we had so ended! but you, sir, altered that; for some hour before you took me from the breach of the sea was my sister drowned.” | Act 2, Scene 1 | 120 | 12 | ## 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. - Fabian and Captain - Fabian and Valentine - Fabian and Curio - Antonio and Captain - Antonio and Valentine - Antonio and Curio - Captain and Valentine - Captain and First Officer - Captain and Priest - Captain and Curio - Captain and Servant - Captain and Second Officer ## Roles and monologues in depth - [How many lines does Viola have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/twelfth-night/viola) - [How many lines does Malvolio have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/twelfth-night/malvolio) - [Viola: I left no ring with her](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/i-left-no-ring-with-her) ## Questions actors ask ### Who has the most lines in Twelfth Night? Sir Toby, with about 342 lines and 2,671 words, 13.8% of everything spoken in the play. Viola is next, with about 339 lines (13.2%). ### How long is Twelfth Night? The full text has 19,416 spoken words, about 139 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 Twelfth Night? 18 named roles speak in this edition, across 18 scenes. 7 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/twelfth-night) (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).