Two ornate metal keys cross beneath a green ribbon on sage linen.

Original artwork, not a still

Sigismund

Do I not effectually destroy my enemies, in making them my friends?

Behind the line

What it means

Our 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.

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