Here are a few examples to help you cite your sources in MLA format:
How to Cite a Play From Your Textbook
Format: Author(s). Title of Play. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, shorter 14th ed., W. W. Norton, 2022, pp. 123-45.
How to Cite a Journal Article
Format: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Date of Publication, page number(s). Database Name (if electronic), URL.
How to Cite Part of a Book, Ebook, or Encyclopedia
Format: Author(s). "Title of Part." Title of Book, edited by Editor, edition, vol. #, Publisher, Year, page number(s). Database Name (if electronic). URL.
Format: (Act. Scene. Line Number(s))
Example: In Hamlet, Ophelia sings about different flowers and plants in a display of her descent into madness:
OPHELIA. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,
that's for thoughts.
LAERTES. A document in madness! Thoughts and remembrance fitted.
OPHELIA. There's fennel for you, and columbines. There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference! There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither'd all when my father died. They say he made a good end. [Sings] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy. (4.5.171-179)
*Note: If the lines in the play are not numbered, include the page number instead.
*Note: If you have used the author's name or the play's title in the signal phrase before introducing the quote, you do not need to include it in your in-text citation.
*Note: When quoting dialogue or lines from a play, indent the line a half inch (one tab) from the left margin. Include the character names in all capital letters, followed by a period. If the dialogue is more than one line on the page long, indent the remaining lines of dialogue by a half inch.
If your play was published as a stand-alone book, it is the same as a MLA Book Citation
Format: Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Play in Italics. Edition, Publisher, Year. Database
Name in Italics (if electronic), URL.
Example: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Simon & Schuster, 1992.
*Note: if using a print book, skip the database name.
If your play was published in an anthology or a collection:
Format: Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Play in Italics. Collection or Anthology Title, edited by
Editor Name, edition, vol. #, Publisher, Year, Page Numbers.
Example: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. The Norton Anthology of World Literature, edited by Martin
Puchner, 3rd ed., vol. C, W.W. Norton and Company, 2012, pp. 652-753.
