What is the religious ruling concerning a wife who utters insults and curses, throws objects, attempts to harm her husband, and does not deal kindly with his family? Is it permissible for the husband to seek a divorce?

You must be patient with your wife and strive to reform her through admonition, by explaining the husband's rights, and by emphasizing the virtue of good character. If she does not respond, then you must deal with her according to the verse: {As for those [wives] from whom you fear disloyalty, admonish them, and abandon them in [their] beds, and strike them. But if they obey you, seek no way against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand} [An-Nisa: 34]. If that does not work, then two arbiters from the family should intervene to reconcile between you. If reconciliation is not possible, then divorce is the last resort.