MLA Play Citation: Easy Guide
Quote and cite a play in an essay using MLA format with confidence by understanding the core components and common scenarios. Whether you’re analyzing Shakespeare’s soliloquies or dissecting contemporary drama, proper citation is crucial for academic integrity and allows your readers to locate the exact passages you’ve referenced. This guide breaks down the MLA (Modern Language Association) style for citing plays, ensuring your essays are both insightful and correctly formatted.
The Basics: In-Text Citations
When you integrate a quote from a play into your essay, you need to provide an in-text citation. This usually consists of the playwright’s last name and the act, scene, and line numbers. The structure is generally: (Playwright’s Last Name Act.Scene.Line Numbers).
For example, if you were quoting a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, you might write:
> Hamlet famously questions the nature of existence, asking, “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (Shakespeare 3.1.56-57).
Notice the punctuation. There’s no comma between the playwright’s name and the act/scene/line numbers. The period comes after the parenthetical citation.
Important Considerations for In-Text Citations:
Play Title: You should italicize the title of the play the first time you mention it in your text. After that, you can refer to it by its title or simply by the playwright’s last name if the context is clear.
Act, Scene, and Line Numbers: Most modern editions of plays use a consecutive numbering system for lines throughout an act or even the entire play. Older texts, particularly those of Shakespeare, often use act, scene, and then line numbers within that scene. Always check your specific edition.
Longer Quotations: If a quotation is four lines or more, it should be formatted as a block quotation. This means indenting the entire quote one inch from the left margin and omitting quotation marks. The parenthetical citation should follow the final punctuation of the quote.
> Hamlet’s contemplation of death is profound:
>
> To die, to sleep;
> No more; and by a sleep to say we end
> The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
> That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
> Devoutly to be wish’d. (Shakespeare 3.1.60-64)
Crafting Your Works Cited Entry
While in-text citations guide your reader to the specific passage, the Works Cited page provides the full bibliographic information for the play you are referencing. This allows your readers to find the exact edition you used.
The basic format for a play in MLA is:
Playwright’s Full Name. Title of Play. Publisher, Year of Publication.
For example, a Works Cited entry for Hamlet might look like this:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Harold Jenkins, The Arden Shakespeare, 1980.
Breaking Down the Works Cited Entry:
Playwright’s Full Name: List the author’s last name, followed by a comma, then their first name.
Title of Play: Italicize the full title of the play.
Publisher: Include the name of the publisher.
Year of Publication: Provide the year the edition you used was published.
Variations and Additional Information for Works Cited:
Edited Collections/Anthologies: If you’re citing a play from an anthology or collection, the entry will be slightly different. You’ll need to include the editors and the title of the collection.
Playwright’s Full Name. “Title of Play.” Title of Collection, edited by Editor’s Full Name(s), Publisher, Year, pp. Page Numbers.
Example:
O’Neill, Eugene. “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” The Best American Plays: 1946-1957, edited by John Gassner, Crown Publishers, 1958, pp. 321-405.
Translated Plays: If you are citing a play translated by someone else, include the translator’s name after the title.
Playwright’s Full Name. Title of Play. Translated by Translator’s Full Name, Publisher, Year of Publication.
Example:
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Translated by Bernard Knox, Washington Square Press, 1959.
Plays Published Online: If you are citing a play accessed online, you will need to include the URL and the date of access.
Playwright’s Full Name. Title of Play. Publisher, Year of Publication. Database Name, URL. Accessed Date.
Example:
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Viking Press, 1949. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/deathofsalesman00mill. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Confusing Line Numbers: Be consistent with how you present line numbers. Some older editions might number consecutively, while others restart with each act or scene. Always refer to the specific edition’s numbering system.
Incorrect Punctuation: Pay close attention to commas, periods, and colons in both in-text citations and Works Cited entries. MLA style has specific rules for each element.
Missing Information: Ensure all necessary components (playwright, title, publisher, year) are present in your Works Cited entry.
Omitting the Playwright’s Name in In-Text Citations (if needed): While you might be able to omit the playwright’s name in subsequent in-text citations if the context is clear, it’s always better to be explicit, especially when discussing multiple plays or authors.
By following these guidelines, you can confidently quote and cite a play in an essay using MLA format. Remember to always consult the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for the most up-to-date and comprehensive information. Practice makes perfect, so the more you cite, the more natural it will become!