The argument of the thesis is that there was a gradual change in attitudes towards solitude during the sixteenth century, which reached its most extreme towards the end of the century, giving rise to a cult of solitude. These attitudes, and the cult itself, became a crucial formative element in the work of Shakespeare.

Part One describes the evidence for and motivations behind the search for solitude, and considers the history of ideas on solitude, placing the climactic period, betwe...