What might be the reasons for Mayella crying in court in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Mayella is of course in a very emotional, difficult situation. She has been called to testify in front of the entire town about a very traumatic event. The fact that Atticus, who is cross-examining her when she begins to cry, is well-educated and articulate, and she is not, would only add to her stress. She makes it clear throughout that she has what might be called an inferiority complex. However, the main reason she...

Mayella is of course in a very emotional, difficult situation. She has been called to testify in front of the entire town about a very traumatic event. The fact that Atticus, who is cross-examining her when she begins to cry, is well-educated and articulate, and she is not, would only add to her stress. She makes it clear throughout that she has what might be called an inferiority complex. However, the main reason she begins crying is because she is almost certainly lying about her alleged rape by Tom Robinson. As Atticus shows, it is very unlikely that events could have happened the way that she says they did. Perhaps Mayella feels remorse for lying, knowing that her lies may well send Tom to the electric chair. Or maybe she is afraid of what her father will do to her (he is known to be abusive) if she admits the truth. Either way, this is almost certainly the source of her tears, as she begins to cry on page 248 when Atticus asks her if she remembers Tom hitting her face. She changes her story a couple of times before reiterating that Tom did, in fact, hit her. At the end of her testimony, under relentless questioning from Atticus, who asks her directly if it was in fact her father that beat her, she bursts into tears after saying again that Tom raped her.