WORD WORM Examining the English language...its use...and its misuse.

  

Most talkative in Shakespeare

If you ask most people (who have read some Shakespeare, anyways) who had the most lines in his plays, the answer will usually be Hamlet. That would be a good guess because of the long soliloquy (the "to be or not to be" part).

However, Hamlet was actually second with 1,422 lines.

The leader is Falstaff who appeared in three of Shakespeare's plays, Henry IV, Henry V, and the Merry Wives of Windsor. Falstaff had 1,614 lines.

In order following Falstaff and Hamlet are:

Richard III

Iago

Henry V

Vincentio

Coriolanus

Timon

Antonty

Note that Romeo and Juliet didn’t appear even in the top 20 most lines. Apparently, they were doing other things.