How to Cite a Play With Its Scenes

Citing a play requires basic understanding of MLA writing style. Citations for plays usually occur in scholarly essays or articles in the humanities, especially English and literature classes. Decide your methods of citation depending upon how you introduce the play and its dialogue. Some students prefer introducing the play before they cite the dialogue. Other students identify the title after they use dialogue to emphasize a point in their essays.

Instructions

    • 1

      Place quotation marks before and after the play's quoted material, unless you refer to the play without directly quoting it. For example: Rosalind says, "Well, I will forget the condition of my Estate, to rejoice in yours" (i.i.16-17).

    • 2

      Use line breaks when you quote shorter passages from the play. For example: Celia remarks, "Why should this Desert be?/ for it is unpeopled? No:/ Tongues I'll hang on every Tree/ that shall civil sayings show" (iii.ii.133-136).

    • 3

      Use parentheses after the quoted material or any direct play reference that requires a citation. If you previously mentioned the title, include the act, scene and line numbers instead: (iv. ii. 206-208).

    • 4

      Indent the citation using a block quote, if you cite four or more lines from a play. In a block quote, copy the lines as they appear in the play without slashes to divide the lines.

    • 5

      List all materials you use in a "works cited" page after you write the essay, according to MLA style.

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