Which Shakespeare character has the most spoken lines? (I used to know this, but I don't remember)?

Answer 1

Here are the top ten characters and line counts:
Hamlet (1422)
Richard III (1124)
Iago (1097)
Henry V (1025)
Othello (860)
VIncentio (Measure for Measure)(820)
Coriolanus (809)
Timon of Athens (795)
Antony (Antony and Cleopatra)(766)
Richard II (753)


I suppose, technically, when you consider characters that appear in multiple plays, the top ten should look like this:

Hal/Henry V (1835)
Falstaff (1623)
Richard III (1527)
Hamlet (1422)
Antony (1097)
Iago (1097)
Henry VI (886)
Othello (860)
VIncentio (Measure for Measure)(820)
Coriolanus (809)

*BTW, line counts can easily vary between editions, so these numbers are estimates, depending on the edition you're using.

Answer 2

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The short answer to your question is: the BEST method of memorization is the one that works for you. It's true that, for some actors, the process comes quite easily, whereas others labor over it. I would also say, however, that there is an alaming number of actors out there who actually seem to believe that iF they at least know their words by opening night, they've done their job. Personally, I've always believed -- and have always taught -- that memorization is about 1% of the work an actor needs to accomplish throughout the rehearsal period. The sooner an actor gets "off book," the sooner they can actually start PLAYING with the other performers. After all, how can you truly react to another actor, unless you're able to look them in the eye? As for my method...I read the script over and over. The WHOLE script; not just my own lines/scenes. The more you come to know and understand about the context in which your character speaks his/her lines, the more natural those lines will become to you. Eventually, you reach the point where the words they say are the ONLY words they COULD say, given the circumstances. One last thing...a lot of actors share your particular concern about memorizing Shakespeare. The fact is that his texts should be EASIER to learn than those of contemporary writers. It's true that they're written using vocabulary and syntax that is unfamiliar to us, but it also has a very strong built-in poetic METER; a rhythm, if you will. Once actors become familiar with that inherent BEAT, they find that learning Shakespeare is much like committing song lyrics to memory...and we all do that!

Answer 3

Most Lines In Shakespeare

Answer 4

Hamlet, with 1569 lines, is the most loquacious Shakespearean character in a single play. Richard III is second, with 1161 lines, and Iago is next, with 1117 lines. However, if we include all of the lines Henry V speaks in both Henry V and the Henry IV plays (when he is known as "Prince Hal"), then Henry V has the most lines of any character, boasting 1063 lines in Henry V alone. Interestingly, no other characters in any Shakespeare play speak more than 1000 lines.

Answer 5

Hamlet has the most lines in a single play: 1,495.

Overall, Henry V has the most lines: 1,893, between Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and Henry V.

Falstaff has 1,685 in Henry IV part 1, Henry IV part 2, and Merry Wives of Windsor (which is in fact certainly one of Shakespeare's canonical plays; it appears in the First Folio).

The most lines by a female character is Margaret, with 848 lines over 4 plays: Henry IV parts 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III.

The most lines by a female character in a single play is Rosalind, in As You Like It, with 677.

Answer 6

In a single play, it's Hamlet. But overall, it's Falstaff.
A lot of scholars don't credit Falstaff with that, because most of Falstaff's lines come in "Merry Wives of Windsor", which Shakespeare wrote very quickly in response to a request from Queen Elizabeth. (I guess some literary scholars don't really count it as a real Shakespeare play...)

Answer 7

Hamlet, with 1569 lines, has the most lines of any character in a single play. Henry V, however, speaks the most lines of any character (if we combine his lines in "Henry V", and "1 and 2 Henry IV").

Answer 8

I'm gonna guess Hamlet cause he never knew when to shut up! lol.