That sort of thing used to be considered "normal" right up into the maybe mid-60s, and was often seen in movies. Some men did such things back then, and they thought it was okay. I do recall the episode you're referring to, ChanteyLass, and I couldn't sympathize at all with a man doing that to his wife...but it was symptomatic of the time

There was a John Wayne cowboy movie in the early 60's (McClintock?) where he did that to Maureen O'Hara. She had played such a bossy and aggressive role in the film that it was sort of understandable...and she seemed plenty tough enough to handle it in the context of the story. I would think, though, that any husband who did that to his wife might be well advised to watch his own back for some time afterwards, in case he got a cast iron frying pan or a rolling pin over the head in return.

Vile's wife would probably just have slipped some poison into his ale...

(I have to say, by the way, that Maureen O'Hara was the one and only actress whom John Wayne seemed to have some real chemistry with onscreen. They were somehow perfectly matched.)