Imagine a dialogue with a friend who calls May Ella "a lying slut." What could you say about May Ella in her defense?

Mayella is lying at the expense of a innocent man. I would never excuse that lie to another person, but I would always have empathy for the circumstances she's had to endure during the course of her lifetime. If Mayella beleives that the truth will get her nothing more than another beating, we have to at least understand that small part of it.