People
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?
— Jane Austen ‧ Pride and Prejudice
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The line makes a wry, slightly unkind bargain: we live to amuse our neighbours and then to laugh back. It treats social life as a game of mutual entertainment, where being watched and watching are two halves of the same pastime. The question mark leaves a bit of room to wonder how serious it is.
Context reviewed