MLA Sample Parenthetical References for a Play
A play with numbered lines:
The parenthetical reference should contain the act, scene, and line numbers in (arabic numerals),
separated by periods. When included in parenthetical references, titles of the books of the Bible
and well-known literary works are often abbreviated—Gen. for Genesis and Ham. for Hamlet,
for example.
“Give thy thoughts no tongue,” says Polonius, “Nor any unproportioned
thought his act” (Ham. 1.3.64-65).
How do I cite from a play that has both verse and prose sections?
Citing from a play that has both verse and prose sections—whether the play is William
Shakespeare’s Macbeth or August Wilson’s Fences—is no different from citing from a play that
is all verse or all prose: you provide page numbers or line numbers (line numbers are usually
given after act and scene numbers) according to how the text is located in the edition.