Idealize: To think of as perfect
Innovative: Marked by a new or unusual way of doing things

Apprehension: Fear or anxiety

Mr. Corynn Smith

American Literature 11th 

9 October 2017

HAMLET

Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

(Act I, Secene II, Page 5)

A Tragic Hero, Media and Hamlet

Through history there have been tragic heroes, people who from the highest point of their careers have quickly come crashing down. An example of one is the self taught actor, Heath Ledger, who became immortalized after his iconic portrayal of the Justice League villain, the Joker. Through his distinct acting and his upbeat personality, fans around the world came to idealize Ledger. However, behind that charismatic personality, there was a man filled with apprehension. Due to his anxiety and insomnia, Ledger developed a incorrigible prescribed medicine addiction. This addiction was presumably caused by his need to feel serene. He was not prudent about his future and this resulted in his tragic death. Nonetheless, all his movie characters and his way of being should not be forgotten because of said drug problem. Heath Ledger was and continues to be an emblematic actor. Heath Ledger, an iconic and idolized actor, quickly rose to fame because of his great acting skills but just as easily descended into a life of stress which led media to a 24-hour news cycle about his tragic and unexpected death. 

Heath Ledger was born on April 4, 1979, to mother Sally Ledger Bell and father Kim Ledger. Early in life, Ledger found an interest in becoming a stage performer. He performed the lead role in his school's production of Peter Pan. Ledger found emotional release in acting and continued looking for roles in school plays. In 1999, he was fully exposed to an international audience with his breakout 10 Things I Hate About You. Soon after, Mel Gibson cast him as his son Gabriel Martin in The Patriot. He worked steadily on small films until 2005, when he was cast to play the lead role in the controversial Brokeback Mountain. Because of this movie, he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Drama, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance “making him, at age 26, the ninth youngest nominee for a Best Actor Oscar” (Biography.com Editors). On January 22, 2008, Ledger was found dead in his bed by his housekeeper and his masseuse at his apartment. Soon after Ledger's death reached the news, erroneous reports began to surface, claiming that the apartment he was in belonged to Mary-Kate Olsen and that both had been casually dating in the months before his death, both of which were not true. Three months before, Ledger had told The New York Times that he was taking Ambien along with other medicines, for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety. He discussed the difficulty that he was having with portraying The Joker in Batman sequel The Dark Knight. It is believed that the star's death was caused by an accidental overdose of the sleep aid, combined with various other prescribed drugs found in his system. The critically acclaimed actor quickly fell, either being accused of having a drug problem or of getting too involved in his Batman character.

Heath Ledger a world renowned actor, who received a Golden Globe nomination as well as an Academy Award nomination, and who had many loving fans around the world, was pronounced dead. This event came as a shock not only to those who knew him personally but also to those who knew him through films. According to New York Magazine author, Chris Norris, “Ledger’s sad and surreal death was being written in real time, on a 24-hour news cycle, with digital cameras and RSS feeds. Television-news crews, online videographers, and cell-phone ‘citizen journalists’ were participating in a dreamlike spectacle…” Many around the world praised him, his acting, and his charisma, which is why everyone was so invested in his strange case. Fans wished to understand the reason behind his tragic fall, and it was only through the media that they were able to do so. The same author explained that as if it wasn’t bad enough, “in Ledger’s apartment: Nearly 300 strangers on Broome Street, filming the removal of a body bag. One hundred more outside an Upper East Side funeral home, a scrum of cameras around a wooden box… ” Tabloids and magazines were writing every detail about his death, even if it meant invading his family's privacy during a moment of pain. Heath Ledger was a great actor and an even greater person. Nonetheless it was well known that he truly disliked being the center of attention, which is why the media should have respected his sentiments, even during his death. Yet, without these media coverages maybe Heath Ledger, a modern tragic hero, might not have been as well known as he is today.

Hamlet, the protagonist of William Shakespeare’s play titled the same way and actor Heath Ledger were both tragic heroes that despite being very different, shared similarities that caused their downfall. Tragic heroes can not only be found in the real life also in literary pieces, as is the case in the classical play. In the play, Hamlet doesn’t feel that life is worth fighting for and although Ledger was not depressed, he did suffer from various mental illnesses. The protagonists uneasiness is expressed in the famous excerpt “To be, or not to be? That is the question—/ Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And, by opposing, end them?” in Act 3, Scene 1, Page 3. In this excerpt from the play, Shakespeare shows that Hamlet is depressed, and does this through a monologue. In this soliloquy, Hamlet wonders if it's better to be dead that to be alive. He doesn't feel like it's worth fighting against the troubles that life threw his way. While heath ledger was not depressed, whenever he had to deal with difficult things life throws your way, he simply quit. However he was anxious and sleep deprived because of this reason. Additionally it is possible to connect how both men's mental illnesses deeply affected them, and eventually ended up killing them. Had it not been for his insomnia an anxiety, Ledger would probably be alive today. Throughout the play, it is evidence that although Hamlet’s and Ledgers troubles were different, they were affected similarly and were brought down by this.

Heath Ledger, quickly rose to fame because of his great acting skills but just as easily descended into a life of stress which led news media to portray him as a negative character. His tragic death caused the media to a 24-hour news cycle about his tragic and unexpected death. In his plays Shakespeare includes multiple tragic elements, which can be compared to Ledger's life. For example, both were affected by their troubles which eventually led them to their downfall. This can be seen in Hamlet soliloquy, where he expresses his distress comparable to that of the character. It could be said that negative publicity interest of people and affected their subjects. 

Works Cited

Norris, Chris. “Untitled Heath Ledger Project.” NYMag.com, New York Media LLC., 18 Feb. 

2008, nymag.com/news/features/44217/.

Dailymail.com, Ashley Collman For. “Heath Ledger turned the apartment where he died into a 

Joker shrine - complete with clown statues, old comic books and recordings of the 

villain's voice.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 25 Oct. 2016, 

Chen, Joyce. “Heath Ledger's Tragic Death 'Was Totally His Fault,' Dad Says.” Us Weekly, Us 

Weekly, 27 July 2016,