In all of the literary works that the class has read, if I could choose one character to play, it would be Christine Linde, from Henry Ibsen's 1879 A Doll's House, filmed in 1973 by Joseph Losey. Mrs. Linde is strong and passionate, and she will not let a man dictate what she will or will not do. After all the days of a submissive wife are long over.
The reader/viewer learns how strong a person Mrs. Linde (Delphine Seyrig) really is at the end of the story. Years ago she had been forced to give up the man she loved, Krogstad (Edward Fox), for a more secure marriage, one in which she and her family would not have to worry if there would be food on the table every night. Mrs. Linde was willing to sacrifice herself to make sure that the people she loves are well supported and receiving everything that they need.
Mrs. Linde does not let a man decide what she will and will not do. Although Mrs. Linde does go back to Krogstad, after her husband's death, she does not let his wounded pride get the best of her. She stands up for herself and also respects the man that she truly loves.
If I could change one thing about Mrs. Linde, it would only be that she would have told Nora (Jane Fonda) to get a life! I could not stand there and watch a woman cope with her husband, Torvald (David Warner), while he treats her like a child. I simply wish that Mrs. Linde would have approached Nora sooner and told her to choose herself first every once in a while instead of always letting her husband have it his way and she gets whatever is left.
I thought that Christine Linde was an extremely strong character in the story A Doll's House. My only wish would have been for Mrs. Linde to have passed on a little of her strength to Nora years earlier.