Question

[Hamlet:] Imperious Cæsar, dead and turn’d to clay,

Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:

O! that that earth, which kept the world in awe,

Should patch a wall to expel the winter’s flaw.

–Hamlet,
William Shakespeare

What does the passage reveal about the topic of death?

Great rulers inspire awe even after they die.
People can defeat death by creating memorials for famous people like Caesar.
Death can transform even powerful people like Caesar into ordinary clay.
Brave people like Caesar are not afraid of death.

Answer 1

Death can transform even powerful people like Caesar into ordinary clay.

Hamlet’s lines stress how “Imperious Cæsar” — once awe-inspiring — is reduced to “dead and turn’d to clay” and could be used merely to “stop a hole” in a wall, showing how death levels greatness into common dust.