Richard III

by William Shakespeare

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This time, there's piece of real-life work floating through Deus Ex. And, it's none other than a play from William "The Bard" Shakespeare himself.

In The Tragedy of Richard the Third (more commonly known as just Richard III), there's an ongoing theme of free-will vs. fatalism. Does Richard choose to be evil? Or, is that simply his true nature, that he is an evil that must meet its demise if the world itself is truly just?.

In this scene of foreshadowing, Richard's imprisoned brother Clarence dreams of being drowned... by his own brother! Shortly thereafter, two men hired by Richard himself proceed to kill Clarence.

Act I, Scene IV

CLARENCE:

... Lord, Lord! methought, what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of waters in mine ears!
What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea:
Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in those holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,
Which woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by..