Who is Anita Proteus from Player Piano and what is their importance?

Anita Proteus is Paul's wife. She and Paul were married after she told him that she was pregnant with their child. The pregnancy, however, was a lie intended to force Paul into marriage.... thus, Anita was successful. Over the course of the novel, Paul is fired from his job, and Anita has an affair with Dr. Shepherd and falls in love. She plans to stay with Shepherd until she learns that her husband actually wasn't fired. Ambition wins out over love and she returns to Paul.