How to Cite Romeo and Juliet

In-Text

• 1

  Place a pair of parentheses after your first quote or reference to the play "Romeo and Juliet." The parentheses belong after the last quotation mark but before the period.

• 2

  Write "Shakespeare," the last name of the author, followed by the title of the play, "Romeo and Juliet." Italicize "Romeo and Juliet" because it is the title of a longer work.

• 3

  Type the number of the act, scene and lines you are citing. For example, "O Romeo, Romeo, / wherefore art thou Romeo?" (Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet 2.1.74-75). Every time you cite the play afterwards, include only the act, scene and line number.

Works Cited Page

• 4

  List the author's last name, Shakespeare, followed by his first name, William. Type the title of the play, "Romeo and Juliet," in italics. Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet.

• 5

  Include the editor, publisher and year of publication if you are citing from a print book or anthology. Identify the medium of the source. Indent the second line of the citation and double-space.

  Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1997. Print.

• 6

  Include the date of publication, if available, and the date of access, if you are citing from a website.

  Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. MIT. Web. 6 June 2011.