Hamlet is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s longest play by word count. Its length is unusually substantial even by Elizabethan theatrical standards, with the main versions containing roughly 27,600 to 28,600 words and around 3,900 lines in conflated modern editions.
The play’s length is partly complicated by its textual history. The First Quarto, printed in 1603, contains only about 15,983 words, while the Second Quarto of 1604 and the First Folio of 1623 are much longer. Editors sometimes combine material from those versions, so the exact word and line totals vary between editions.
That textual variation does not usually change the quiz answer. Hamlet remains the longest Shakespeare play in standard comparisons, ahead of other large tragedies such as Othello, King Lear and Richard III. Its extended soliloquies, philosophical debates, embedded theatre performance and multiple plot strands all contribute to its exceptional size. A full performance can last more than four hours.