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In The Crucible, is Elizabeth Proctor a good wife or not?

Elizabeth Proctor was a good woman and a good wife to John Proctor. She loved him and stood by him through his imprisonment and execution. The thought of John's death filled her with pain and torment, but she loved him too much to ask him to lie in order to save himself. She loved him too much to take his "goodness" from him. Elizabeth's personal sacrifice at the play's conclusion is evidence of her own goodness.

However, Elizabeth believed that she had failed John earlier in their marriage, and before he died, she took responsibility for her part in their alienation. She blamed herself for John's infidelity with Abigail, explaining that her own insecurities kept her from believing in his love. According to Elizabeth, she kept "a cold house." After discovering John's affair, Elizabeth was filled with fear and suspicion. She no longer trusted him, making John feel punished unfairly every day for his past unfaithfulness. John rejected Elizabeth's self-criticism, and their final moments together were filled with tenderness. 

Overall, Miller presents Elizabeth Proctor as a good wife and woman.  The only negative characteristics Miller attributes to Elizabeth are that she can be somewhat self-righteous, and she is insecure.  In Act 2, when John returns to the house, Elizabeth greets him with suspicion.  Her first words in the play are:

"What keeps you so late? It's almost dark" (Act 2, lines 1-2).

Elizabeth's insecurity stems from her lack of confidence in her appearance and personality.  Her husband John is a domineering individual who commands others' attention.  In Act 4, as Elizabeth and John discuss his decision, Elizabeth apologizes to John for her quick willingness to suspect him of wrongdoing.  She confesses,

"John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did. . . . It were a cold house I kept!" (Act 4)

Other than these two "flaws," Elizabeth is a faithful, protective wife and woman.  Miller illustrates this truth through the following examples.

1. She motivates John to do what is right.  In Act 2, she knows that if John tells the judges and ministers that Abigail was simply sporting that that might cause embarrassment for her family, but it is the right thing to do and will save lives.

2.  She lies for her husband.  In one of the most significant scenes of the play (Act 3), Elizabeth tells the judges that she did not fire Abigail for harlotry.  While the audience knows that Elizabeth needs to tell the truth to prove her husband's confession and stop the witch trials, Elizabeth does not have the benefit of that knowledge.  In lying for John, she risks all.  First, she has a chance to get revenge and identify him as an adulterer to the whole town, but she does not. Secondly, as a Puritan, Elizabeth realizes that if she lies, she might not be a "covenanted woman" (meaning that she is not one who will go to Heaven).  The Puritans believed in a works based religion and taught that lying was a damnable offense.  By lying for John, Elizabeth takes the risk of damning herself to hell.

3.  Finally, in the end, Elizabeth makes what must be the most difficult choice a wife or husband could make.  While she would love for John to confess and save his life, she acknowledges that she cannot ask her husband to do so. This is significant because she was willing to lie herself to save John, but she selflessly cannot ask him to do the same.  It is no coincidence that Miller chooses Elizabeth to deliver the play's last lines.  At the end of Act 4, Elizabeth tells a disillusioned Rev. Hale,

"He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!"

The Proctors, like many 17th century married couples depended on each other for basic survival.  Marriage throughout history has not only been a union based on love, but more a requirement for security, protection, and partnership.  Couples, like the Proctors, work together to make a home and family so that they can endure against the wildness of the environment.  

Women needed husbands for security and protection, men needed a helper to keep house and to manage their farms.  So generally speaking, Elizabeth Proctor meets these requirements and that makes her a good wife according to the Puritan idea of marriage.  

"Elizabeth is gentle and devoted to her family. Her goodness and dignity are evident in the way that she argues calmly against Hale and Danforth's accusations. Her loyalty to John is most clearly demonstrated when, thinking to protect him, she denies that he has committed adultery."  

Elizabeth was an obedient wife, she took care of her home,prepared meals, did her chores, she was respectful of her marriage vows, had children and cared for them.

If anything can be said about Elizabeth, it is that she was devoted to her family, but that after her husband's adultery grew more distant from him, causing emotional distance in the marriage that grew worse with time.

Elizabeth becomes less guarded of her emotions after she is imprisoned and her life with John is hanging in the balance. She has had sufficient time to think about whether she really loves John Proctor or just respects him as her husband.  

She decides that she both loves and respects him.  Her respectfullness is illustrated by her willingness to lie to cover up his infidelity. When the court asks her to verify the facts that John has provided regarding his affair with Abigail, Elizabeth chooses to protect his good name and reputation.

"Elizabeth: Your Honor my husband is a good and righteous man.  He is never drunk as some are, nor wastin' his time at the shovelboard, but always at this work." (Miller)

Even though Proctor has publicly shamed her by having an affair with a young servant girl, she cannot denounce him in the court, she lies to protect him because she really does love him.  But Elizabeth is a faithful Puritan woman and a devout Christian, so John's immortal soul is more important to her than his earthly life.  As a good wife, she stands by her husband at the end of the play, not willing to go against his decision to die an honest man.

she is a good wife believe me i know SHE IS !!! =D =D

She loved and supported her husband.  I thought it would be crystal clear.