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《第十二夜》是莎士比亚早期喜剧创作的终结。这部作品以抒情的笔调，浪漫喜剧的形式，再次讴歌了人文主义对爱情和友谊的美好理想，表现了生活之美、爱情之美。几百年之后，《第十二夜》的巨大艺术魅力依然不减，读起来令人心旷神怡，精神愉悦。此外还有节日和电影第十二夜。

西巴斯辛和薇奥拉是相貌相同的孪生兄妹。在一次航海事故中，两人在伊利里亚岸边失散。薇奥拉以为哥哥身遭不幸，便女扮男装，化名西萨里奥，投到当地奥西诺公爵的门下当侍童。奥西诺公爵派薇奥拉替他向年轻貌美而富有的伯爵小姐奥丽维娅求婚。可是，这时薇奥拉已经暗暗地爱上了主人奥西诺。而奥丽维娅却对代主求婚的薇奥拉一见钟情。事情变得微妙复杂了。

　　与此同时，一个密谋正在奥丽维娅家中进行。她的叔父托比等人由于受到傲慢的大管家马伏里奥的斥责，便对他进行报复。他们模仿奥丽维娅的笔迹写了一封情书给马伏里奥，信中鼓励马大胆求爱，并要他经常穿着令人厌恶的黄色长袜。马伏里奥鬼迷心窍，上了他们的当，丑态百出；而奥丽维娅则以为管家在发疯。

　　为赢得奥丽维娅的芳心，奥西诺再次派薇奥拉到奥丽维娅的家中游说。奥丽维娅愈加爱慕薇奥拉了。而奥丽维娅的叔父却执意要将她嫁给蠢笨的富户安德鲁，于是便与奥丽维娅的女仆玛莉娅一起极力鼓动安德鲁和薇奥拉决斗。

　　原来薇奥拉的哥哥西巴斯辛遇难时被海盗船长安东尼奥所救，俩人结成莫逆之交。来到伊利里亚后，由于安东尼奥船长惧怕伊利里亚当局的追捕，不能陪西巴斯辛逛城，便把钱袋交给他使用。

　　安东尼奥船长意外地碰到正在和安德鲁决斗的薇奥拉，他错把她当成她的哥哥西巴斯辛，遂上前拔刀相助。然而，路过此地的警察认出了他并把他逮捕。安东尼奥看到薇奥拉对自己被捕既无动于衷，也不肯还他钱袋，大为吃惊，遂指责她忘恩负义。安德鲁等人还想找薇奥拉决斗，但是他们遇到了西巴斯辛，错把他当成薇奥拉，便拔剑相向，幸被及时赶来的奥丽维娅所制止。奥丽维娅也错把西巴斯辛当成薇奥拉，并把他请到家里表示爱情，俩人遂私下结百年之好。

　　马伏里奥被宣布患有精神错乱而关进了暗室，并被装扮成牧师的小丑百般戏弄。后来马伏里奥得机写信向奥丽维娅小姐申辩，才使得真相大白。

　　最后，西巴斯辛和薇奥拉兄妹重逢，西巴斯辛和奥丽维娅相爱，奥西诺公爵被薇奥拉的品貌所感动，宣布娶她为妻，安东尼奥船长亦获自由。除马伏里奥外，众人皆大欢喜。

    Various critics divide Twelfth Night into various types of plots and/or subplots. Regardless of the exact number of plots and subplots, however, the main thing is that they are all woven together with immense skill to ultimately compose a single pattern or tapestry. There is, first, the group centering around the ducal nobility of Illyria: this group consists of Duke Orsino and his attendants, who open the play, and the Countess Olivia, who is the main topic of discussion of the opening scene. Then there is the group of shipwrecked personages centering on Viola and Sebastian, the twins, and their friends, Viola's sea captain who fades from the action, and, more important, Antonio, who plays a significant role later in the comedy. Both Viola and Sebastian are, of course, later absorbed into the nobility of Illyria. Then there is the merry group of pranksters, gullers, and tricksters, led by Sir Toby Belch and Maria; this group also includes Sir Andrew Aguecheek (who is included because his income supports the other members of this group), Fabian, and Feste, the Clown. Through Feste, all of the groups are connected by his free movement from one group to another as he is equally at home singing for Duke Orsino, or proving Lady Olivia to be a fool for so excessively mourning for her brother, or in planning a trick with Sir Toby. Then outside of all of these groups stands Malvolio, Lady Olivia's puritanical steward. His colossal vanity and egotism get between him and everything that he sees and does. Thus, he has already gotten on the wrong side of Maria, Feste, and Sir Toby, and the plot involving their determination to take their revenge upon him provides the best humor of the play.

Malvolio is socially and sexually ambitious; Maria realizes this and writes a letter purporting to come from the Countess Olivia, making Malvolio believe that his lady is in love with him and wishes to marry him; the letter also asks him to be firm and obstinate with her uncle, Sir Toby, to be arrogant to the other servants, and to dress in yellow stockings and go cross-gartered, and to smile all the time when he is near her. Malvolio finds the letter on the garden path and falls for the trick as he is watched gleefully by the group led by Maria and Sir Toby.

Viola disguises herself as a boy in order to protect herself and to obtain employment by Duke Orsino and quickly finds her way (as Cesario, the youth) into his favor; she is then sent to woo the Countess Olivia, much against Viola's will, for she has fallen in love with Count Orsino herself. Countess Olivia, who cannot love Duke Orsino, falls immediately in love with the messenger, Cesario, thus creating an amusing triangle which produces several complications. The arrival of Viola's twin brother, Sebastian (previously presumed drowned), sorts everything out matrimonially. Sebastian marries Olivia, Orsino marries Viola, and Sir Toby marries Maria for having played such an excellent trick on Malvolio.

This is one of Shakespeare's most popular, lightest, and most musical of all his comedies, and its staging continues to delight audiences all over the world.