Linda Tressel

"Linda Tressel" by Anthony Trollope is a tale set in the late 1800s that follows Linda Tressel, a youthful woman living in Nuremberg under the unyielding watch of her aunt, Madame Charlotte Staubach. It presents ideas about individual liberty, the limitations of inflexible ethics, and the conflict between what society demands and what individuals want. As readers begin "Linda Tressel", they meet Linda, growing up in a home ruled by her aunt's firm religious ideas, and Peter Steinmarc, the family's boarder seeking Linda's hand in marriage. Linda’s aunt, though loving, forces her harsh moral rules on Linda, causing a life full of holding back and yearning for freedom. This situation of strong virtue strongly goes against the growing feelings Linda has for Ludovic Valcarm, a young man who shows the very passions she is taught to keep down. As connections become more twisted, Linda is stuck between what her aunt wants and her own growing wishes for love and being her own person.