Twelfth Night Title

You might have guessed that Twelfth Night, or What You Will (William Shakespeare's only play with an alternate title) has something to do with the popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Twelfth Night (January 6) marks the Feast of the Epiphany, a holiday in Western Christian theology that celebrates the day that the magi (a.k.a. three wise men) presented gifts to the newborn Jesus.

Critics argue about whether or not the play was written specifically for Twelfth Night. Leslie Hotson argues that Twelfth Night was performed for Queen Elizabeth and her guest, Count Don Virginio Orsino, on January 6, 1601. (Orsino, of course, is the name of Viola's love interest in the play.) Plenty of scholars disagree and argue that the play was written later, but even those who refute Hotson's argument acknowledge that the world of the play celebrates the spirit of Twelfth Night festivities.

Twelfth Night is a religious holiday but it marks the end of a period of major celebration and revelry, and boy did the Elizabethans know how to party. During the…