When Christine Linde arrives, Nora notes that she seems to look older, paler, and thinner that she used to. Christine is a widow of some three years and she was left "nothing" by her husband, "Not even a sorrow or a longing to dwell upon." She tells Nora, her much more naive and sheltered friend, that "it happens so sometimes . . . " At this point in the play, Nora thinks that it must be "dreadful" to be so "utterly alone" as Christine is. Soon, however, when Nora learns that Christine's ailing mother, who Christine supported for years, has passed, she thinks that Christine's life must feel "free."
Nora, in Christine's view, really has no sense of what it is like to be burdened by her sex, her poverty, her family obligations, and Christine tells her, "You're a child, Nora." Nora refutes her friend's claim, saying that she, "too, [has] something to be proud and glad of," explaining the loan she took out in order to save her husband's life as well as how she's had to work in order to pay it back. She expresses her great pride in having done something secret, something for which she's had to toil, something which makes her feel smart and grown-up. It is, perhaps, Christine's accusation that Nora is like a child and Nora's realization of the pride she has taken in acting independently that paves the way for her later realizations that she has, in many ways, been treated as a child by her father and husband and refused the right to think or act independently for her entire life.
Mrs. Linde, an old friend of Nora's, returns to Nora's life after "ten, long years."
She has changed after losing her husband, a businessman whom she married only to be able to raise her two brothers and care for an ailing mother. Now a widow, Mrs. Linde is alone in life and seeks Nora to request a position in Torvald's bank to support herself.
Since she has known Nora for so long, Christine Linde feels that she knows her enough to know the basics.
Nora is infantile to a point and not very knowledgeable about life
Nora depends on all the men in her life
Nora is carefree and fortunate
However, Nora challenges Linde's observations by telling her all about the business with Krogstad. Nora, in her immature mind, feels that Linde would agree that what Nora did was a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of Nora's husband, Torvald.
Instead, Linde points out to Nora the boldness of her actions, and hints at the fact that Nora is living a fake relationship where husband and wife do not treat one another with equal respect. Essentially, Linde is the outsider who shows Nora how things really look in her relationship from the eye of an outsider looking in. She is also the one who insists to Nora that she should tell Torvald everything; that the lie needs to stop. Nora has no other female support systems, as we do not see her receiving female visitors in her house, while most Victorian ladies would spend their entire days paying or receiving visits. Also, Nora lacks a maternal role mother, since her mother died. Linde is the closest thing to a female family support system in Nora's life. While she did what she could to prevent the final disaster from happening, Linde ultimately knew that a separation is precisely what Nora really needs in her life.
Having established the role of Christine in Nora's life, it is safe to argue that she enters Nora's life right when Nora begins to question (albeit slowly) what would happen if her secret ever comes out. This is clearly a dent in Nora's total devotion to her husband. It shows that she has inner doubts as to his commitment to her. Linde comes to verify all her doubts, and perhaps she is pivotal in Nora's decision of telling her husband exactly how she feels, and then leaving him. Nora sees an example in Christine, to a point. She learns that a woman can be alone. Linde's presence would be a reassurance to Nora that she, too, can chose to be alone.
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