Romeo and Juliet Navigator HomeSonnets and Rhymes Index

Chart of the proportions of rhyme, blank verse, and prose in Romeo and Juliet.

[The scene titles are links to the text. || There is a note on the numbers at the bottom of this page.]

Prologue -- rhyme: 14 lines || total: 14 lines
100%

Act 1, Scene 1 -- rhyme: 68 lines || blank verse: 106 lines || prose: 64 lines || total: 238 lines
29%44%27%

Act 1, Scene 2 -- rhyme: 48 lines || blank verse: 34 lines || prose: 19 lines || total: 101 lines
47%34%19%

Act 1, Scene 3 -- rhyme: 20 lines || blank verse: 81 lines || prose: 4 lines || total: 105 lines
19%77%4%

Act 1, Scene 4 -- rhyme: 14 lines || blank verse: 100 lines || total: 114 lines
12%88%

Act 1, Scene 5 -- rhyme: 54 lines || blank verse: 75 lines || prose: 15 lines || total: 144 lines
38%52%10%

Act 2, Prologue -- rhyme: 14 lines || total: 14 lines
100%

Act 2, Scene 1 -- rhyme: 6 lines || blank verse: 36 lines || total: 42 lines
14%86%

Act 2, Scene 2 -- rhyme: 26 lines || blank verse: 163 lines || total: 189 lines
14%86%

Act 2, Scene 3 -- rhyme: 94 lines || total: 94 lines
100%

Act 2, Scene 4 -- rhyme: 6 lines || blank verse: 16 lines || prose: 195 lines || total: 217 lines
3%7%90%

Act 2, Scene 5 -- rhyme: 6 lines || blank verse: 64 lines || prose: 8 lines || total: 78 lines
8%82%10%

Act 2, Scene 6 -- rhyme: 4 lines || blank verse: 33 lines || total: 37 lines
11%89%

Act 3, Scene 1 -- rhyme: 46 lines || blank verse: 56 lines || prose: 95 lines || total: 197 lines
23%28%48%

Act 3, Scene 2 -- rhyme: 39 lines || blank verse: 104 lines || total: 143 lines
27%73%

Act 3, Scene 3 -- rhyme: 26 lines || blank verse: 149 lines || total: 175 lines
15%85%

Act 3, Scene 4 -- blank verse: 35 lines || total: 35 lines
100%

Act 3, Scene 5 -- rhyme: 34 lines || blank verse: 208 lines || total: 242 lines
14%86%

Act 4, Scene 1 -- rhyme: 2 lines || blank verse: 122 lines || total: 126 lines
3%97%

Act 4, Scene 2 -- blank verse: 33 lines || prose: 14 lines || total: 47 lines
70%30%

Act 4, Scene 3 -- blank verse: 58 lines || total: 58 lines
100%

Act 4, Scene 4 -- blank verse: 27 lines || total: 27 lines
100%

Act 4, Scene 5 -- rhyme: 17 lines || blank verse: 83 lines || prose: 46 lines || total: 146 lines
12%57%31%

Act 5, Scene 1 -- rhyme: 4 lines || blank verse: 82 lines || total: 144 lines
5%95%

Act 5, Scene 2 -- blank verse: 30 lines || total: 30 lines
100%

Act 5, Scene 3 -- rhyme: 16 lines || blank verse: 294 lines || total: 310 lines
5%95%

Note: The Numbers Are Not Precise! Here's why:
Brief deviations from blank verse are counted as blank verse, not prose.
For example, the following passage counts as six lines of blank verse:
BENVOLIO.   It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?

ROMEO.   Not having that, which, having, makes them short.

BENVOLIO.   In love?

ROMEO.   Out--

BENVOLIO.   Of love?

ROMEO.   Out of her favor, where I am in love.     (1.1.163-168)

The rhymes may be over-counted.
A rhyme that isn't heard in performance doesn't exist, but this count includes rhymes that are separated by two unrhymed lines. For instance, in the following speech of Romeo's, two lines (the second and the last) are counted as rhymed.
By love, who first did prompt me to inquire;
He lent me counsel and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.   (2.2.80-84)
Also, repetition of entire words is counted as rhyme. For example, in the following exchange the two lines ending in "philosophy" are counted as rhymed:
FRIAR LAURENCE: I'll give thee armour to keep off that word:
Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy,
To comfort thee, though thou art banished.

ROMEO: Yet "banished"? Hang up philosophy!
Unless philosophy can make a Juliet,
Displant a town, reverse a prince's doom,
It helps not, it prevails not: talk no more.   (3.3.54-60)

The total number of lines in a scene may be questionable.
In a double-column edition a line of prose is usually only slightly longer than a line of verse. However, in a single-column edition, prose lines are much longer, and so there are fewer of them, and the total number of lines is lower. Therefore, if a scene contains prose, the total number of lines in the scene will vary from edition to edition. In Romeo and Juliet Navigator, the total number of lines in a scene matches the total in The Riverside Shakespeare, which is a double-column edition.
Romeo and Juliet Navigator HomeSonnets and Rhymes Index