Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses an incident involving a woman whose religious practices were influenced by whom she was married to at the time, whether he was a sage or a commoner:

“There was an incident involving a certain woman who married a chaver and would tie [koma’at] for him phylacteries on his hand, and she later married a tax collector and would tie for him tax seals on his hand.”

Though some may feel this text to be condescending or critical of women, I think this is an important quality: the ability to make peace with, and even appreciate, the qualities of a husband, in spite of him not appearing objectively to be a good catch. Kesuvos (39a) states: “Abaye said that women say: One whose husband is small as an ant, nevertheless places her seat among the noblewomen.”

Ben Yehoyada (Yevamos 118b) asks why the metaphor uses an ant when there are even smaller insects, such as a par’osh (flea). He says that the Gemara is alluding to the idea that this husband has more to him than meets the eye. Mishlei (6:6) praises the industry and middos of the ant. Thus, though this man appears to be short in stature, physically and perhaps in other externalities, she knows he has better qualities, or appreciates him for his particular qualities. For example, he may not be a sage, but he might be a hard worker and have integrity.

Ben Yehoyada adds a story about a clever woman from Bereishis Rabbah (20:7) who was married to a bandit. The rabbis paid a house call, apparently to make some sort of intervention. When they visited her, she brought out a golden lamp, with an earthen oil cup on top, as if to say: though he is a rough fellow (the earthenware cup), there is a mixture of features (the golden lamp), possibly hinting at their children or other good qualities that emerged in the relationship.

In Talmudic society, the tax collector was not merely a despised profession for obvious reasons, but they often were believed to be thieves as well, as they appropriated more than their due (Shevuos 39a). So this woman went from being married to one of the most revered members of society to the most loathsome. She goes from assisting her husband with tefillin, a venerated object, to assisting her next husband with his profane tax instruments. Still, she remained loyal, and at least this particular tax collector might have had integrity and been a good man, and she supported him. 

As a final note to consider, this kind of loyalty, making peace with who your spouse is, and finding and supporting their good parts, does not have to be limited to women. A man should see his wife that way as well. I think the Gemara did not emphasize that point because of their culture. Women were not expected to be particularly learned, pious, nor professionally productive. Their role was to be mothers and maintain the home, and the men did not necessarily have much to critique one way or the other, because they may have felt simply it was not their business. In our times, women are more active professionally and socially, and it certainly behooves a man to relate in a similar manner if he does have professional or academic expectations of his wife.