What Does Twelfth Night Refer To

The title of Twelfth Night refers to the twelfth night of Christmas, also referred to as the eve of Epiphany, a day that commemorates the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus and is often celebrated with a temporary suspension of rules and social orders.

Why is Twelfth Night called that?

Shakespeare titled his play Twelfth Night because it was written as a celebration of the twelfth night of Christmas. This was the last night of the Christmas season, sometimes called the Eve of Epiphany. … Twelfth Night was, therefore, the end of the “party period” surrounding the birth of Christ.

Is Shakespeare's Twelfth Night about Christmas?

Twelfth Night is a Christmas play. You see, Shakespeare probably wrote the play for a Twelfth Night celebration. (The fact that the play’s plot has little-to-nothing to do with the holiday is neither here nor there.) Twelfth Night was a holiday usually celebrated the twelfth day after Christmas: January 6.