Mrs. Robinson

As I said yesterday, Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson quite fascinates me.
I don’t think she did when I first watched the film in college, many years ago: She was obviously the villain, cheating on her husband and then selfishly trying to keep Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) from finding love with Elaine.
Rewatching The Graduate, I still don’t like her, but I found it interesting how little we know of what’s behind her bored, WASP-arrogant facade (I don’t think we even get her first name).
The only personal information we get is when Benjamin, desperate to convince himself there’s more going on than screwing, badgers her into opening up about her marriage. She tells him they met in college, she got pregnant, they got married. It’s a painful scene, since she understandably doesn’t want to talk about this (Ben, determined to forge a connection, doesn’t notice).
Beyond that, and a passing statement she’s an alcoholic, nada. Which raised questions in my mind: Is she a serial adulterer? Why seduce Ben—because she has the upper hand? Because she finds him attractive? Because she figures he won’t tell? Because she can pretend she’s young again?
And why does she refuse to let Benjamin see Elaine? Jealousy/possessiveness? A desire not to see her daughter happier than she is? Or does she figure a guy who sleeps with married women isn’t good enough for Elaine?
I have the vague idea for a story here … not sure what, yet, but it’s there. Because some day I want to find out what makes Mrs. Robinson tick.