Elizabeth Leefolt

Elizabeth Leefolt is a 23-year-old woman who is the mother of Mae Mobley and Ross Leefolt. She is married to Raleigh Leefolt. Elizabeth does not love her children. She is gripped with postpartum depression. From her 52-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, Elizabeth falls squarely into the villain category. Elizabeth cares about appearances and will do anything to protect her reputation.

Not that this excuses her, but she seems particularly vulnerable 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.

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 so Aibeleen is the one who basically raises her.