Death of a Sad Clown The tragic hero is a literary device used to show the flaws of human nature; however this model can also pertain to real-life individuals in our society. For example, a shakespearean tragic hero in real-life would be Robin Williams, a famous comedian who was adored by all. Essentially, nobility is distinguished by being upper class and having elevated character. In Robin Williams’ case he satisfies both specifications; as a child Williams grew up in a rich family and he obtained respect and notoriety by making others joyful . Additionally, Williams hamartia, or his fatal error that ultimately brings about his doom, lies in the depression that he struggles with his entire life. His fatal depression was caused by the destructive …show more content…
Born July 21, 1951 into a very rich and prosperous family, Williams’ father was a senior executive in Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln-Mercury Division and his mother was a former model who became a practitioner of Christian Science. Busy with their jobs, the young Williams was often alone, he tried taking advantage of the limited time he was able to share with his parents, but the family maid was his main companion as his mother and father frequently traveled for work. Further, the absence of his family caused William to be shy and quiet in his many different private schools [the family often moved for work]. Yet, he did not overcome his shyness and until he became involved with his high school drama department (5). Robin Williams automatically set himself apart with his elevated character that made others laugh, just as Jim Norton said in an interview: “ It ( making people laugh) was a kind of way to keep the sadness or depression off of you, to be funny” (1). Williams claimed that he had fought with his raging depression since childhood, however, it did not slow him down. In 1973, the comedian attained a full scholarship to Juilliard; he was 1 of 20 students to be accepted into the freshman class. Williams’ classmate Christopher Reeve remembers his first impression of Robin Williams, “ He wore tie-dyed shirts with tracksuit bottoms and talked …show more content…
Williams first experiences this downfall when his depression slowly takes ahold of him. The crossroads between comedy and physiological suffering has never before been so thoroughly crossed, than in Robin Williams case (1). In a 2010 interview Marc Maron shares the raw details of Williams feelings:“ Williams called stand-up "the one salvation" and commented: "How insecure are we, how desperately insecure that (it) made us do this for a living?" He even [hinted] on his suicidal urges, doing a two-man routine between himself and his consciousness. Replaying the episode this week, Maron reflected: "He was a person with his own problems that he carried with him. And I think part of his genius came from the struggle with those problems” (1). Williams admits to his hamartia and affirms his insecurities and suicidal thoughts. As Williams goes through the motions, trying to make it day by day, he endures extreme suffrage. Robin Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider said that before Williams’ death he stayed sober but was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia which had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease (5). Lewy body dementia is the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's disease dementia. Protein deposits, called Lewy bodies, develop in nerve cells in the brain regions involved in thinking, memory and movement This may have contributed to