How to Cite Shakespeare?

Your go-to guide for citing Shakespeare's works correctly in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.

Need to cite Shakespeare for an academic paper? Proper citation is essential for scholarly work. Here's a guide covering all the major citation styles – it's more straightforward than you might expect.

The Basics

Key principles when citing Shakespeare:

  • Use act, scene, and line numbers rather than page numbers
  • Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) rather than Roman numerals (I, II, III) in modern styles
  • Separate act, scene, and line with periods (e.g., 3.1.56-58)
  • Italicize play titles
  • Place sonnet titles in quotation marks

MLA Style (9th Edition)

In Your Paper

For prose quotes:

Hamlet says, "To be, or not to be—that is the question" (3.1.56).

For short verse quotes (under 3 lines):

Juliet asks, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" (2.2.43-44).

For longer verse quotes (3+ lines): Make it a block quote, indented, keeping the line breaks.

Works Cited

From an anthology:

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon & Schuster, 2012.

From a complete works:

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton, 2016, pp. 1764-1853.

APA Style (7th Edition)

In Your Paper

Shakespeare (1603/2012) wrote, "To be, or not to be—that is the question" (3.1.56).

Or:

"To be, or not to be—that is the question" (Shakespeare, 1603/2012, 3.1.56).

Reference List

Shakespeare, W. (2012). Hamlet (B. A. Mowat & P. Werstine, Eds.). Simon & Schuster. (Original work published 1603)

Chicago Style

Footnotes/Endnotes

1. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012), 3.1.56.

Bibliography

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.

Citing Sonnets

MLA

In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare writes, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (line 1).

Works Cited:

Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 18." Shakespeare's Sonnets, edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, Arden Shakespeare, 2010, p. 147.

APA

Shakespeare (1609/2010) opens Sonnet 18 with "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (line 1).

Pro Tips

  1. Stay consistent – Use the same edition throughout your paper
  2. Ask your teacher – Some prefer Roman numerals
  3. Use abbreviations for play titles in parentheses:
    • Ham. for Hamlet
    • Rom. for Romeo and Juliet
    • Mac. for Macbeth
    • MND for A Midsummer Night's Dream
  4. Note your edition – Different editions have different line numbers
  5. Keep original spelling – If your edition uses old spelling, keep it

That covers the essentials of citing Shakespeare. While it may seem complex initially, the patterns become intuitive with practice. The key is consistency – pick your style and stick with it throughout your paper.