People
Do I not effectually destroy my enemies, in making them my friends?
— Sigismund
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The question redefines destroying an enemy as ending the hostility through friendship. Its apparent paradox depends on changing the relationship rather than harming the person. The speaker presents reconciliation as a kind of victory, because someone who becomes a friend no longer occupies the role of enemy.
Context reviewed