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Emma Smith, a prominent scholar and critic of Hamlet, offers a compelling analysis of how the past functions in the play. In her work, particularly in her book Hamlet's Moment (2017), she explores how Shakespeare’s Hamlet intricately engages with the concept of history and memory. Here are some key insights from Smith on the past in Hamlet:
1. The Past as a Force that Haunts the Present
Smith emphasizes how Hamlet is a play that is deeply haunted by the past—primarily through the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The apparition’s demand for vengeance forces Hamlet to reckon with a world defined by the actions of the deceased, thereby preventing him from fully living in the present.
The past in the play is not a static, finished thing but something that continues to invade and shape the characters' present actions, most notably Hamlet’s obsession with revenge and the slow unraveling of his mind.
2. The Problem of Memory and Time
According to Smith, Hamlet demonstrates the difficulty of reconciling memory with the passage of time. The play’s characters, especially Hamlet himself, struggle to bridge the gap between what happened (the past) and what is happening (the present).
Hamlet's hesitation to act is, in part, due to his contemplation of history and how the past can never be fully understood or erased. In fact, Smith suggests that Hamlet is often immobilized by his inability to find closure with the past.
3. The Ghost as an Unresolved Past
Smith argues that the appearance of the ghost is central to the play’s engagement with history. The ghost is an embodiment of the unresolved past, which demands action in the present but also creates a kind of historical paralysis. It’s not just the past that haunts Hamlet, but the idea that it will never truly be laid to rest—requiring continuous engagement with the past through memory, guilt, and revenge.
4. Hamlet and Historical Context
Smith also touches on the idea that Hamlet can be read as a play that reflects and engages with the broader concerns of Elizabethan England’s own relationship with history. At the time, England was undergoing a process of political and social change, and Hamlet echoes concerns about how history shapes the present, particularly in the context of kingship, legitimacy, and authority.
She explores how Hamlet, as a character, embodies the anxiety of a world in flux, where the stability provided by tradition (and history) is uncertain and must be continuously interrogated.
5. The Play’s Tension Between Action and Reflection
One of Smith's significant observations is that Hamlet’s indecisiveness—his "delay" in avenging his father—can be seen as a response to his awareness of the complexity of history. Hamlet knows that by acting, he would be altering history, but at the same time, his hesitation suggests an uncertainty about how to interact with the past. For Hamlet, history is a tangled web, and his awareness of the past complicates his actions in the present.
In sum, Emma Smith views Hamlet as a play that deals with the past not simply as something to be avenged or overcome but as something that continuously shapes and influences the present. The past is always with the characters, never fully gone, and its unresolved nature is a central theme of the play.