Macbeth MLA Citation: Works Cited & In-Text Examples
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0 sourcesMacbeth MLA Citation lists the play under its author: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon & Schuster, 2013. In-text citations use act, scene, and line numbers separated by periods, not page numbers.
What is the correct MLA citation for Macbeth?
The correct MLA citation names William Shakespeare as author, italicizes Macbeth as the title, and records the specific edition you read. Because editions differ in editors, publishers, and line numbering, you must cite the copy in your hand, not the play in the abstract.
Works CitedShakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Simon & Schuster, 2013.
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth around 1606, but MLA never uses that composition date. You cite the publication year printed on the copyright page of your edition instead. That is why two students citing the same play can list two different years.
How do you format the Works Cited entry?
Build the entry from the MLA core elements in order: Author, Title of source, Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Publisher, and Publication date. For a standalone edition of Macbeth, the play title is the source and no container applies.
| MLA element | Value for Macbeth (Folger example) |
|---|---|
| Author | Shakespeare, William. |
| Title of source | Macbeth. |
| Other contributors | Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster, |
| Publication date | 2013. |
Invert the author name so the surname comes first. Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 inches in the final document, and place the entry alphabetically under “S” for Shakespeare among your other sources.
What does each part of the citation mean?
When Macbeth appears inside an anthology such as The Norton Shakespeare, the collection becomes the container and a page range is required. The colour-coded example below breaks that fuller citation into its five working parts.
- Author — surname first, then given name, closed by a period.
- Title of source — the play title in italics.
- Container & contributors — the anthology, its editors, and publisher.
- Publication date — the year the edition was published.
- Location — the page range of the play within the book.
How do you cite different editions of Macbeth?
Match the entry to the exact source you consulted. The four most common cases are a standalone print edition, a play inside an anthology, an online scholarly edition, and an ebook. Each takes a slightly different set of core elements.
Standalone printShakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Edited by Nicholas Brooke, Oxford UP, 2008.
AnthologyShakespeare, William. Macbeth. The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton, 2016, pp. 2709-73.
Online editionShakespeare, William. Macbeth. The Folger Shakespeare, edited by Barbara A. Mowat et al., Folger Shakespeare Library, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/macbeth/. Accessed 18 July 2026.
EbookShakespeare, William. Macbeth. Edited by Sandra Clark and Pamela Mason, Arden Shakespeare, 2015. Kindle ed.
For the online entry, include an access date because web texts can change without notice. Drop “https://” from the URL, as MLA 9 directs. If the anthology gives an edition number, record it in the version slot before the publisher.
How do you write an in-text citation for Macbeth?
MLA cites verse plays by act, scene, and line rather than by page. Separate the three numbers with periods and use Arabic numerals: (1.5.15-18) means act 1, scene 5, lines 15 to 18. This lets any reader locate the passage in any edition.
| Situation | In-text citation |
|---|---|
| Author already named in sentence | (1.7.60-62) |
| Author not named nearby | (Shakespeare 2.1.33-34) |
| Single line | (4.1.10) |
| Citing more than one Shakespeare play | (Mac. 5.5.19-28) |
Name the edition once at the first citation, then use numbers alone afterward. If your instructor still prefers page numbers, MLA permits them, but act-scene-line references are the scholarly norm and travel across editions cleanly.
How do you quote lines of verse from Macbeth?
Quote up to three lines of verse inline, marking line breaks with a forward slash surrounded by spaces. Reproduce Shakespeare’s original line divisions exactly, then place the act.scene.line reference in parentheses after the closing quotation mark.
Short quoteMacbeth hears the fatal summons: “Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?” (2.1.33-34).
For four or more lines, set the passage as a block quote: indent it 0.5 inches, drop the surrounding quotation marks, and keep the poet’s line breaks. The parenthetical reference then follows the final punctuation of the block.
How accurate is this guide, and what are its limits?
These rules follow the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, and match the guidance the Folger Shakespeare Library and Purdue OWL publish for verse drama. The examples are real, correctly formatted, and edition-specific, so you can adapt them by swapping in your own book’s details.
Two limits matter. First, line numbers vary between editions, so always cite from the copy you actually read rather than copying a reference from elsewhere. Second, if your course still uses MLA 8 or an in-house style sheet, confirm small details like the access-date requirement with your instructor. When a citation tool and a printed rule disagree, the printed handbook wins.
Frequently asked questions
Do you use page numbers or line numbers to cite Macbeth in MLA?
Use act, scene, and line numbers separated by periods, such as (1.5.15-18). MLA treats Macbeth as verse drama, so line references are preferred because they work across every edition; page numbers are only a fallback.
Who is listed as the author of Macbeth in MLA?
William Shakespeare is the author. List him as Shakespeare, William in the Works Cited entry. Editors like Barbara A. Mowat go in the “other contributors” slot after the title, introduced by the phrase “Edited by.”
What date do you use for a Macbeth citation?
Use the publication year of your specific edition, found on the copyright page, not the roughly 1606 date the play was written. Two editions of Macbeth will therefore carry different years in their MLA entries.
How do you cite Macbeth from an anthology like The Norton Shakespeare?
Treat the anthology as the container. List Shakespeare, the play title, then the anthology title in italics, the editors, edition, publisher, year, and the page range, for example pp. 2709-73.
Should Macbeth be italicized or in quotation marks?
Italicize Macbeth. As a full-length play it is a standalone work, so MLA formats the title in italics in both the Works Cited entry and the body of your essay, never in quotation marks.
How do you cite an online version of Macbeth in MLA?
Give the author, italicized title, the website name in italics, the sponsoring organization, the URL without https://, and an access date. The Folger Shakespeare digital edition is a common, reliable source for this format.