The Grand Mechanism

Emanating from the features of individual kings and usurpers in Shakespeare's History plays, there gradually emerges the image of history itself. The image of the Grand Mechanism.
The flattering index of a direful pageant,
One heav'd a-high to be hurl'd down below . . . --- Richard III, 4.4.85-6

 The Grand Mechanism , a staircase by which tyrants rise to power. Each step up requires treachery and killing until they reach the top and achieve power only to fall victim to those climbing the stairs behind them. The actions that bring them to the top bring about their demise.