As You Like It
So here’s the numerical breakdown…
- 2678 total lines; shorter than average (average play: 2777; average comedy: 2425)
- At 16 and 18 lines, respectively, Act Two, Scene Six, and Act Four, Scene Two are the shortest of their kind in the Canon
- At 199 lines, Act Two, Scene Seven is the longest of its kind in the Canon
- Act One: 572 lines; slightly shorter than average play, longer than the average comedy (average play: 582, average comedy: 488)
- Act Two: 536 lines; shorter than the average play (567), but longer than the average comedy (495)
- Act Three: 730 lines; MUCH longer than average (average play: 576, average comedy: 511)
- Act Four: 403 lines; MUCH shorter than average (average play: 560, average comedy: 460)
- Act Five: 437 lines; shorter than average (average play: 484, average comedy: 471)
- 1503 lines of prose (56.12% 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%, 3HenryVI: 0.14%, Richard III: 2.89%, Love’s Labor’s Lost: 35.08%, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: 26.81%, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 19.75%, Romeo and Juliet: 14.18%, King John: 0.0%, The Merchant of Venice: 21.79%, Richard II: 0%, 1HenryIV: 44.7%, 2HenryIV: 50.36%, HenryV: 40.89%, and Merry Wives: 88.20%])
- 291 rhyming lines (10.87% of total lines [as opposed to Comedy: 20.10%, Titus: 2.42%, Taming: 3.93%, 1HenryVI: 9.79%, 2HenryVI: 3.16%, 3HenryVI: 5.37%, Richard III: 7.55%, LLL: 40.86%, 2Gents: 35.08%, Midsummer: 43.5%, Romeo: 16.61%, King John: 6.19%, Merchant: 5.16%, Richard II: 18.95%, 1HenryIV: 1.04%, 2HenryIV: 2.32%, HenryV: 1.80%, and Merry Wives: 3.79%])
- 23 scenes; more than average (average play: 21; average comedy: 16)
- 19 characters; less than average (average play: 36, average comedy: 22)