Fails the Bechdel test

Shakespeare in Love

Name: Shakespeare in Love
Released: 1999

1999. Directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

William Shakespeare is a known but struggling poet, playwright, and actor, who has not only sold his next play to both Philip Henslowe and Richard Burbage, but now faces a far more difficult problem: he is bereft of ideas and has yet to begin writing. He is in search of his muse, the woman who will inspire him, but all attempts fail him until he meets beautiful Viola De Lesseps. She loves the theatre and would like nothing more than to take to the stage, but is forbidden to do so as only men can be actors. She is also a great admirer of Shakespeare's works. Dressing as a man and going by the name of "Thomas Kent", she auditions and is ideal for a part in his next play. Shakespeare soon sees through her disguise and they begin a love affair, one they know cannot end happily for them as he is already married and she has been promised to dour Lord Wessex. As the company rehearses his new play, William and Viola's love is transferred to the written page, leading to the masterpiece that is "Romeo and Juliet".

Released: 08 Jan 1999
Genres: Comedy, Drama, History
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 87 / 100
Awards: Won 7 Oscars. 65 wins & 87 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Will 247 lines, man
Viola 115 lines, woman
Henslowe 94 lines, man
Wessex 58 lines, man
Fennyman 55 lines, man
Burbage 32 lines, man
Alleyn 27 lines, man
Nurse 26 lines, woman
Viola As Thomas 26 lines, woman
Queen 24 lines, woman

Full cast, 49 people

Joseph Fiennes as Will Shakespeare
Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola De Lesseps
Geoffrey Rush as Philip Henslowe
Tom Wilkinson as Hugh Fennyman
Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth
Imelda Staunton as Nurse
Colin Firth as Lord Wessex
Ben Affleck as Ned Alleyn
Simon Callow as Tilney
Steven Beard as Makepeace
Jim Carter as Ralph Bashford
Rupert Everett as Christopher Marlowe
Martin Clunes as Richard Burbage
Tim McMullan as Frees
Joe Roberts as John Webster
Antony Sher as Dr. Moth
Georgie Glen as Lady in Waiting
Nicholas Boulton as Henry Condell
Barnaby Kay as Nol
Mark Williams as Wabash
Jill Baker as Lady De Lesseps
Nicholas Le Prevost as Sir Robert De Lesseps
Rebecca Charles as Chambermaid
Bob Barrett as George Bryan
Simon Day as Taxi boatman
Bridget McConnell as Lady in Waiting
Sandra Reinton as Rosaline
Jason Round as Tavern Actor
Rupert Farley as Barman
Adam Barker as First Auditionee
Harry Gostelow as Second Auditionee
Alan Cody as Third Auditionee
David Curtiz as John Hemmings
Gregor Truter as James Hemmings
Amber Glossop as Scullery Maid
Robin Davies as Master Plum
Hywel Simons as Servant
Roger Morlidge as James Armitage
Daniel Brocklebank as Sam Gosse
Mark Saban as Augustine Phillips
Timothy Kightley as Edward Pope
Roger Frost as Second Taxi Boatman
Rachel Clarke as First Whore
Lucy Speed as Second Whore
John Ramm as Makepeace's Neighbour
Paul Bigley as Peter
Patrick Barlow as Will Kempe
Steven O'Donnell as Lambert
John Inman as Lady Capulet in Play

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 194

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 5	0	51
6 to 10	0	36
11 to 15	1	39
16 to 20	16	18
21 to 25	0	16
26 to 30	6	65
31 to 35	0	9
36 to 40	15	4
41 to 45	15	25
46 to 50	8	64
51 to 55	10	20
56 to 60	18	26
61 to 65	4	3
66 to 70	18	17
71 to 75	3	4
76 to 80	7	5
81 to 85	2	4
86 to 90	5	7
91 to 95	2	3
96 to 100	5	27
101 to 105	24	25
106 to 110	1	33
111 to 115	9	27
116 to 120	6	9
121 to 125	13	25
126 to 130	3	40
131 to 135	1	9
136 to 140	4	6
141 to 145	0	1
146 to 150	0	7
151 to 155	5	25
156 to 160	2	5
161 to 165	0	11
166 to 170	3	8
171 to 175	0	2
176 to 180	3	1
181 to 185	6	10
186 to 190	17	16
191 to 194	0	3

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 25 are women's.

232 lines from women, 706 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

8 women and 33 men in the cast. 9 women and 35 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 128 of 960. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 127 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 28% of the words (2,564), men 72% (6,700). Women have 25% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: John Madden (man)
Written by: Marc Norman (man), Tom Stoppard (man)
Produced by: Harvey Weinstein (man), Edward Zwick (man), Donna Gigliotti (woman), Marc Norman (man), David Parfitt (man)
Shot by: Richard Greatrex (man)
Edited by: David Gamble (man)
Music by: Stephen Warbeck (man)
Production design by: Martin Childs (man)
Costumes by: Sandy Powell (woman)
Cast by: Michelle Guish (woman)