Richard the Third by the Numbers: overall

Richard the Third

  • 3601 total lines; second longest play in the Canon (only Hamlet is longer); longer than average play, longer than average history (average play: 2777; average history: 3009)
  • At 14 lines, Act Three Scene Sixth is the shortest of its kind
  • At 247 and 352 lines, Act Three Scene Seven and Act Five Scene Three are the longest of their kind in the Canon
  • Act One: 1063 lines; longest first act in the Canon (second longest is King Lear 576); longer than average, longer than average history (average play: 590, average history: 612)
  • Act Two: 415 lines; shorter than average (average play: 568, average history: 621)
  • Act Three: 826 lines; longer than average (average play: 576, average history: 632)
  • Act Four: 838 lines; longer than average (average play: 563, average history: 651)
  • Act Five: 459 lines; shorter than average (average play: 480, average history: 493)
  • only 104 lines of prose (2.89% of total lines [as opposed to The Comedy of Errors: 13.31%, Titus Andronicus: 1.39%, The Taming of the Shrew: 20.82%, 1HenryVI: 0.37%, 2HenryVI: 16.64%, and 3HenryVI: 0.14%])
  • 272 rhyming lines (7.55% of total lines [as opposed to The Comedy of Errors: 20.10%, Titus Andronicus: 2.42%, The Taming of the Shrew: 3.93%, 1HenryVI: 9.79%, 2HenryVI: 3.16%, and 3HenryVI: 5.37%])
  • 25 scenes; more than average (average play: 21; average history: 24)
  • 63 characters (second highest total in the Canon, behind only 2HenryVI; more than average (average play: 36, average history: 48)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *