L'utilisation du subjonctif

Question

Bonjour,Pourquoi, au paragraphe 4, ligne 2, utilisez le subjonctif..... "qu'ils puissent" ?Je vous remercie.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Martin, 
Question intéressante! 
Je pense que le 'pour que' est sous-entendu ici et qu'une meilleure traduction serait - 
( so ) that they may see how people lived.
Bonne continuation!

Answer

The que... part introduces a wish along with associated uncertainty of it coming true. Therefore it requires the subjunctive. It's along the lines:

Que vous viviez longtemps. -- May you live long!
Vivement qu'il vienne ce soir. -- I really hope that he come tonight.

Note that in the second sentence, the English also uses the subjunctive "come" instead of the indicative mood ("comes"). It is rare to hear it in spoken English anymore, except in certain idiomatic phrases like: God save the Queen! (and not "God saves the Queen")