MLA is a writing style that is used in several types of academic papers. When quotes from a play need be cited, MLA style should be used. Two distinctions are made for formatting quotes in a play. Classic drama, or plays written in verse, are cited using the title, act, scene and line numbers. Modern drama, or plays written in prose, are cited using the author's last name and the page numbers. Thus, plays written in verse are cited the same way as poems, and plays written in prose are cited the same way as any prose literature.

Citing Quotes from a Play

If the quote is four lines or less, insert it within the text of your paper, using quotation marks around it.

For a prose play, cite the reference by using the author's last name and the page numbers. One example of an in-text citation for a prose play, used on the Bell Custom Writing website, appears this way:

In "The Glass Menagerie" the reader sees Jim, the 'gentleman caller,' slowly drawing Laura Wingfield out of the cocoon she has built around herself. When he accidentally breaks Laura's favorite glass animal, her response demonstrates Laura's new-found assuredness: "Oh, I don't have favorites - (Pause) much. It's no tragedy. Glass breaks so easily. No matter how careful you are. The traffic jars the shelves and things fall off them" (Williams 613).

The citation tells the reader that Tennessee Williams is the author of the play and the passage is from page 613.

If the quote is longer than four lines, put it into block form by indenting 10 spaces from the left margin, and do not use quotation marks. Always have a lead-in, a short explanation of the quote and who is saying it. At the end of the quote, put the last name of the author and the page number in parentheses after the period.

To quote a passage that is a dialogue between two or more characters in a modern play, set the quotation in block form, which begins 10 spaces from the left margin of the text. Always have a lead-in before dialogue. Begin each part of the dialogue with the character's name in all capital letters and follow the name with a period and two spaces. Then start the quotation and indent all remaining lines of that character's speech at least three spaces. After the dialogue ends, enter the author's last name and page number in parentheses.

Dialogue between characters from "The Glass Menagerie" is quoted in this way, as noted on Bell Custom Writing's website:

Even in the following rather simplistic scene between Tom and his mother Amanda, the difference in their personalities is clearly shown:

TOM. All right, I'll guess. You want to know when the gentleman caller's coming

- he's coming tomorrow.

AMANDA. Tomorrow? Oh, no, I can't do anything about tomorrow. I can't do

anything about tomorrow.

TOM. Why not?

AMANDA. That doesn't give me any time.

TOM. Time for what?

AMANDA. Time for preparations. Oh, you should have phoned me the minute

you asked him - the minute he accepted.

TOM. You don't have to make any fuss!

AMANDA. Of course, I have to make a fuss!

TOM. Mother! This boy is no one to make a fuss over.

(Williams 591)

For drama written in verse, such as Shakespeare, use a slash (/) to separate the lines within the text. Do not use page numbers for in-text citation; instead, cite by using the title of the play, the act, scene and line numbers with periods and a space separating each of these numbers. Arabic numbers (Macbeth 2. 1. 22-23) or Roman numerals (Macbeth II. i. 22-23), may be used. One example of an in-text citation, used on the Athabasa University website, appears as follows:

Iago's deception of Othello is dependent upon the Moor's honest and trusting nature: "The Moor is of a free and open nature/That thinks men honest that but seem to be so;/And will as tenderly be led by th' nose/As asses are" (1. 3. 390-93).

The following is an example of a longer quote from the same play:

Othello's trusting nature allows him to mistakenly trust Iago:

This fellow's of exceeding honesty,

And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit

Of human dealings. If I do prove her haggard,

Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings,

I'd whistle her off and let her down wind

To prey at fortune. (3. 3. 257-62)

To quote a passage that is a dialogue between two or more characters in a classic play, follow the same format as you do for a modern play, except for the citation at the end of the dialogue. Enter the act, scene and line numbers in parentheses. Put a period and a space after the act and the scene numbers. Following is passage of dialogue from "Macbeth":

Macbeth's doubts begin to surface immediately after he murders Duncan:

MACBETH. This is a sorry sight. [Looking at his hands.]

LADY MACBETH. There's one did laugh in sleep, and one cried "Murder!"

That they did wake each other. I stood and heard them;

But they did say their prayers, and addressed them.

Again to sleep. (2. 2. 21-26)