He also desires to be her protector "like a hunted dove that I have saved from a hawk's claws; I will bring peace to your poor beating heart" (65). His insinuation of "poor beating heart" is that without him she is nothing and incomplete. Nora leads a difficult life within this society being that Torvald be the marriage's dominant partner.
Nora is very submissive and acts needy towards her husband. In the beginning, Nora comes across as a wife that just loves money and is comfortable with her lavish lifestyle. The repetition of money throughout Act 1, "Money!. You might give me money, Torvald." (3) gives her this impression. She asks Torvald for help picking out a dress, because "There is no one has such good taste" (26). Nora acts as a daft housewife, that cannot handle a minor task on her own, so it will give her husband the satisfaction that she needs him. Most of the time when Nora talked to her husband she stood behind him to give another tie to her submissiveness.
Nora was self-sacrificial to her social standing to make sure her husband did not die. Even though women were not supposed to conduct business or control their own money without the authorization of the man that "owned" them. This is why when Torvald talked about business he made sure that his wife was not in his quarters. Nora borrowed money with authorization and committed forgery out of love for her husband. When Torvald found out what she did all he tried to do was cover his social standing "no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves" (70). This shows that the common man did not care as much for his wife like a women did. "It is a thing hundreds of thousands of women have done" (70) even though Torvald would not protect his wife after she committed a crime for him, Nora tell him that this is what all women have been doing for many of years.