First of all,I know that many people have done articles about Elsa not being selfish,but I want to do this myself.
Second,this is just MY opinion,this isn't the word of GOD and I'll use all the evidence and logical thinking to "build my case",but I just want to defend a character that means a lot to me.
I want to defend Elsa against the arguments the Elsa haters have said about her,so this is going to take pretty long,but I'll try my best.
Okay,I think that's been enough,let's do it.

1."She runs away from her problems instead of confronting them"-As we all know very well,Elsa's powers are connected to her emotions,the stronger the emotions are,the more powerful her powers become when it is unleashed.Since confrontations have the tendency to sometimes make people to sometimes express emotions such as anger and frustration to a certain degree,it is to understand why Elsa chooses to avoid confrontation,since she fears that if she will express emotion,her powers will be released,and people would get hurt because of her.I don't believe this is selfishness as much as it is a VERY over-protective way of thinking.
Besides,as we can all see in the beginning of the between Elsa to Anna and Hans,and when Elsa confronts the two Weseltonian thugs who tried to kill her,when the situation calls,and even though Elsa doesn't like confronting her problem,she can and will hold her own,except for in cases where she doesn't know how to act,as we will discuss later.

2."She leaves the kingdom to her HIGHLY inept sister so she can embrace her powers"-The only thing I can agree with this argument is that Anna is highly inept.
My theory(which is a very logical one,as I do say so myself)was(and still is)that Elsa's act of self-exile was out of her deep desire to protect the people in Arendelle from her powers,and also out of her fear of being treated as a monster,with the fear of her powers hurting other people being the dominant of the two.It's true that on the long run,this act was selfish,as a Queen and a big sister,leaves both Anna and the Arendellians behind,but I HARDLY believe that her reason for doing so(or at least,her PRIMARY reason for doing so)is a selfish reason.Plus there was something I've read on Elsa's page on the Disney wiki that has caught my eye,and I believe it's relevant for this specific argument:
Elsa always believed that in order to keep everyone safe from her powers,she must be away from everyone as much as possible.As a result Elsa became very sensitive towards other people and their well being and because of Elsa's connection between Elsa's powers and her emotions,who weren't still under control her powers,who still weren't under control at the time,Elsa believed that she couldn't really rule Arendelle because of this flaw,even though she tried to become a worthy queen to her people.
Now...consider the reaction of the people of Arendelle to Elsa's abilities at the eve of the coronation(which was also the last major thing that Elsa saw before departing to the mountains).By the looks on their faces,even though it has been proven that the story of Tangled happened in the same universe of Frozen,and despite the fat that there are rock trolls living in a valley near Arendelle,people weren't used to magic at the time,let alone to a human wilding it.
By looking at the reaction to her powers,I strongly believe that Elsa probably thought that,even though Anna wasn't ready to become queen(and by looking at the two sisters conversation regarding true love,that's not surprising),the people in Arendelle would rather have a regular human to be their leader rather than a dangerous witch.I'm not saying that Elsa used this assumption as an excuse,I'm saying that this was probably her mindset at the time,at least that's how I see it.
Besides,don't forget that Elsa has decided to embrace her powers only when she reached the northen mountain,where there's no one that could be harmed by her powers,or someone that will call her a witch or a monster for having them.Had she planned to be alone just so she can embrace her powers all along,don't you think that it would have been more logical to see her happy instead of seeing her sad during the scenes we see her alone in her room while she grows up?if you ask me,the goal of self-exile wasn't to embrace her powers,the enlightment that she had was just a bonus.Her true goal was to protect those she cared for,so again,how is this selfish?

3."She also refuses to go down to her kingdom,take responsibility for her actions and/or work with them about controlling it"-I can understand why people would call Elsa is a selfish character because of that scene in the ice palace of her conversation with Anna regarding her little"accident"during the"For the first time in Forever (reprise)",since it does seem like Elsa is a lay irresponsible woman.But,I beg to differ.
Think about it like this people:Imagine someone whose almost his ENTIRE life,could only transport himself with a wheel-chair,because he never learned how to do so properly,so he believed that the wheel-chair was the only possible way to transport himself fro place to place.Now,imagine someone else telling said guy that me MUST walk,right here and now,or something terrible might happen to someone he cares for.How do you think our wheel-chair guy would react?My guess is that he will say that he has no idea how to walk,and will only get stressed the more he is being told to walk.I think you understand my point.
Through most of her life,Elsa had no idea how to thaw the ice she made,since her parents hadn't thought her how to properly control her powers(although I would say that they didn't know much about it to begin with,and simply acted the only way they knew how).As a result,Elsa truly had no idea how to solve the problem of the eternal winter when Anna brings the subject before her at the ice palace,and she believes that she just can't do it.The combination of that,Elsa's fear of Anna getting hurt because of her close proximity for her(which later turned out to be justified as she saw Anna curled on the ground after Elsa's emotional burst,that has made her powers go wild),the fact that Elsa was probably worried to her core that someone might have got hurt already from her eternal winter,and the fact that her belief that she needs to stay away from people in order to keep the safe had also played holded her back from returning with Anna,Olaf and Kristoff back to the kingdom,and you get a rather very convincing explanation as to why she refused to go back to Arendelle and confront the problem that she had created,despite the fact that she clearly shows a great amount of genuine concern when she realizes what she had done to the kingdom.
Now...considering all that I've shown you guys regarding this argument,I think that it is clear that Elsa's refusal to return is not proving that she's a selfish person,it is proving that Elsa acts out of fear,lack of knowledge regarding her powers,and over-protectiveness regarding other people's safety,and CERTAINLY NOT out of selfishness.

4."She resists when the men come to take her back,so she has to be dragged to the kingdom in chains."-Even though the goal of Hans' expedition WAS to retrieve Elsa back to Arendelle(although it wouldn't be surprising if it wouldn't have bothered that bastard excuse of a prince would have "accidently died" during this mission),the only members of the expedition that Elsa has encountered face to face were the two Weseltonian thugs,and their goal wasn't to take her back to the kingdom,it was to take her LIFE.So yeah,of course she resisted and fought them.It wasn't selfishness,it was self-defense,and she was bound in chains because the members of the expedition really had no idea of what she was capable of.

5."And escapes the prison when it becomes clear that the only way to stop the winter...is to stop her"-Again,Elsa's desire to protect those she cares for is expressed in the wrong way as she has no idea how to stop her unintentional eternal winter.True,now she knows how much her powers have damaged the kingdom,but the fact remains that she still had no idea that LOVE was the key to solving the crisis.The only way she was able to think about how to spare Arendelle any further harm was to just leave forever,and trying to leave as less damage behind as possible.It's true that on the long run this action is selfish,but Elsa made this decision when she was REALLY misguided,worried and afraid at that point in the movies plot.However,it is a clear and unchanged fact that she only wanted to protect her people,like she always wanted to,and that is,in my opinion,as selfless as it can be.

6."She didn't consider Anna's feelings on her isolation in general."-I will admit,although it sounds simple enough,this was one of the more trickier arguments to disprove,because of the lack of screen time for Elsa in the movie,that has limited the audience's knowledge regarding Elsa's private thoughts during the time of her isolation,weather it was during her childhood,or during her time of residing in her castle.Even though Elsa has stated out loud that she wishes that happy time that she was having with Anna during the eve of the coronation would last forever,and the obvious fact that the love Elsa had for Anna was beyond measure,the sad truth(in my opinion,anyway)was that just like her parents,Elsa never realized how much damaging the separation was for her an Anna,since both Elsa and her parents believed that as long as Elsa was far away from Anna,then everything would be alright,and they didn't understood how badly the separation hurted Anna.Elsa knew a little more about this then her parents in my opinion,but she was still concerned by the bigger issue:that her powers were dangerous (since that was she was told most of her life),and because of that,she must stay away from people so that they won't get hurt,despite the fact that it is obvious that she always truly wanted to be there for her sister,and not away from her.And if you're not convinced by this,look at Elsa's face at the Disney wiki,and you'll know that I'm right.

7."She puts her fear before everything,Anna mostly,she let's her fears get in the way of everything."-Well,throughout Frozen's plot,Elsa's love for Anna and her fear of hurting her were pretty much on the same plain.
True,Elsa's main trait was fear,but by looking back at her childhood,it's understandable,and even though her actions are indeed selfish in a way,as I've said-the (selfless) intention is still there.And as a result,Elsa is unintentionally selfish,because if she fears of hurting others so much,it is pretty obvious that they mean much to her.

8."She never apologizes ONCE in the movie."-Whoever said she never apologized to the citizens of Arendelle?Fro the moment Anna hugged Elsa and smiled to Kristoff,clearly there was a time gap between that moment and the ships departing Arendelle's port and Hans' imprisoning.Wether it was a time-gap of a few hours or a day or two,there is in fact a time gap,and since many people in the coronation saw Elsa's powers,foreigners and Arendellians alike,now that Elsa has more control over her powers and Anna by her side,she'll probably explain to them that it was all an accident and not intentional,and that she's not a threat to Arendelle or to any other country,and that now she will resume her duty as the ruler of Arendelle,since we already know how much she cares for her citizens and not just as a queen.Besides,Elsa probably made inquiry regarding the attempted assasination on her life from the thugs of Weselton and it's connection to the duke himself(which would explain why him and his thugs were escorted to their ship by Arendellian soldiers),and of course,Hans himself was probably imprisoned in Arendelle and it was interrogated regarding his heinous actions towards Elsa and Anna,before it was decided that he is to be shipped back to The Southern Isles to receive punishment from his elder brothers.So...yeah,there's no reason for Elsa not to apologize for what happened during the time-gap.
I can agree that besides to the citizens she didn't really apologize to anybody else,but I think that's a problem I have with the writing more than I have with the character.

9."Elsa only said that because she worried about Hans' bothers staying over for the wedding and having yet another social event that she'd be required to attend.She panics and says "No one's brothers are staying here.No one's is getting married".See her priorities.Elsa's reason for not blessing the marriage doesn't stem from their quick engagement.It's much more self-centered than that."-To be honest,I also asked myself wether Elsa's decision for not blessing the marriage was out of careness or out of her own paranoia,but here's my opinion-Even though I think Elsa was indeed paranoid about bringing more people to live in the palace,she tried to explain her reasons to Anna,but Anna refused and insisted that Elsa will tell Hans as well.It makes sense why Elsa would find an explanation that will both be logical,and that it won't short circuit Hans' brain off.
Plus,I strongly believe that Elsa's refusal came mainly for her worry for Anna's future,and not from her own paranoia,since it fits her selfless nature.
I believe,and that will NEVER change,that if there's anything in Frozen,ANYTHING that proves that Elsa is a selfless person,rather than selfish one,it's her connection and deep love for Anna,and I know that deep down,you people know it as well.

Well,there you have it,it took me a long time to make this,but defending a character that means a lot to me,it was worth it.I don't believe that Elsa is a selfish person,definitely not,but WHAT I DO AGREE WITH is that Elsa has her flaws,but that doesn't make her a bad person.Elsa does things that could be considered selfish,but her intention is not.But if you guys think that Elsa is more selfish than she is selfless,I understand that.You guys have your opinions,and I respect t
hat because I respect you as people(most of you).But I do want is for you guys to understand that the hard work I did to make this article I did it to defend a character that means a lot to me and to respect my opinion.
As always,Smell ya' later.