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

Which theme is best supported by the passage?

Death is an insignificant force.
Death conquers everyone in the end.
Death keeps the world in awe.
Death is a beginning, not an ending.

Answer 1

Death conquers everyone in the end.

Hamlet marvels that even "imperious Caesar" — once feared and revered — is "dead and turn'd to clay" and could be used to "stop a hole." The lines show that death reduces all human greatness to the same fate.