"A Spinster's Tale"

Elizabeth has an obvious conflict with Mr. Speed (man vs. man), but I think it is an outcome of the conflict she has with herself. As she remembers her childhood, she seems lonely, or even lost. She wants to escape the world in which she now finds herself, which is illustrated through her chant,  “away,” in the parlor mirror. Her loneliness may stem from the fact that her brother is usually not in the right state of mind due to alcohol, and her father is distant. When her father is around, he is either arguing with her brother, or in the parlor with his brothers drinking. Thus, Elizabeth has an obvious issue with alcohol. It is very-deep rooted. When she sees Mr. Speed, his drunken demeanor and uncoordinated movements, she is shaken up a bit. I think she takes the anger she feels about the death of her mother and the alcoholism in the family out on Mr. Speed. The conflict that she has with Mr. Speed thus drives the story.