How do you punctuate a question that quotes a question?
Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.
Do not use two question marks. Use only the question mark contained in the quotation:
Which Shakespeare character asked, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?”
But if the sentence includes a parenthetical citation, place the question mark after the citation:
How would you respond to the writer’s question, “How important is punctuation” (5)?