Elizabeth Leefolt

Biography
Elizabeth Leefolt is the 23-year-old mother of Mae Mobley Leefolt and Ross Leefolt. She is married to Raleigh Leefolt. Elizabeth does not love her children.

Elizabeth is rude and obnoxious character which immediately makes her an antagonist viewed by the audience. Furthermore, unlike Hilly (who cared for her mother to an extent), Elizabeth Leefolt didn't care about her own daughter until the end of the film.

She is gripped with postpartum depression. From her 53-year-old African American maid, Aibileen Clark, Mae Mobley is verbally abused by Elizabeth. Elizabeth thinks her daughter is unattractive and overweight. Its possible that Elizabeth never wanted to be a mother. Like her best friend Hilly Holbrook, Elizabeth falls squarely into the villain category. Elizabeth cares about appearances and will do anything to protect her reputation. She is also best friends with Skeeter Phelan since childhood.

Not that this excuses her, but she seems particularly vulnerable and a huge follower to Hilly's whims because of her borderline economic status. Although her mother, Miss Fredericks, is rich, Elizabeth and her husband Raleigh seem to make less money than most of their friends do. Beneath her puppy-dog loyalty to Hilly, Elizabeth must know how easy it would be for Hilly to make her life miserable too. Elizabeth constantly wants to impress people around her and is always trying to be regarded highly in other people's eyes.

Because of her social status, Elizabeth can't be known as an abusive parent. Her status allows her to abuse and neglect Mae Mobley with impunity, and prevents her from getting help for her problems. There are hints that Elizabeth is raising her daughter the way her mother raised her, with violence and disgust. Elizabeth does not know how to love her daughter until the end of the film so Aibileen is the one who basically raises her.