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Word Nerd: "success"
Context and Language Videos
Act 5,
Scene 3
Lines 60-66

An explanation of the origin of the word "success" in Act 5, Scene 3 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar

myShakespeare | Julius Caesar 5.3 Word Nerd: Success

Titinius

But Cassius is no more. O setting sun,
As in thy red rays thou dost sink tonight,
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set.
The sun of Rome is set. Our day is gone;
Clouds, dews, and dangers come; our deeds are done.
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed.

Messala

Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
Video Transcript: 

The latin verb succēdĕre, means to follow, or to come after. It came into English as the verb, to succeed, which we still sometimes use with this original meaning. For example, we might say, “When the Queen passes away, she will be succeeded on the throne by her son, Charles.” Similarly, the noun, success, originally meant something which follows, an outcome or result, which might be good, bad, or neutral. However, about the time this play was written, success was beginning to be used in its modern sense, referring only to a positive outcome. And that seems to be the meaning of success in Titinius’ remark, “Mistrust of my success hath done this deed.” Because Cassius couldn’t trust that there’d be a positive outcome, he chose to kill himself instead.