# XV explained — There Is Confusion > Chapter companion for There Is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset. ## What happens Joanna Marshall's concert career flourishes, and she and Peter Bye share a romantic evening in Philadelphia after her triumph at the Academy of Music. Peter gives Joanna a ring, but their parting is strained by Joanna's emotional reserve. Later, Peter encounters Maggie Ellersley in a Philadelphia Automat and learns she has left her husband, Henderson Neal, and is pursuing a divorce. Maggie recounts her unhappy marriage and her current life as a supervisor for Madame Harkness's hair stores. ## Themes in this chapter ### Ambition and Success Joanna's dedication to her concert tours, language lessons, and dancing illustrates her relentless pursuit of artistic achievement, often at the expense of her personal relationship with Peter. ### Love and Sacrifice Peter's desire for a committed love clashes with Joanna's emotional restraint and career priorities; Maggie's story reveals the sacrifices and pain of a failed marriage. ### Gender and Women's Roles Maggie's independence as a supervisor and her pursuit of divorce challenge traditional expectations, while Joanna's career-driven life reflects evolving roles for women. ## Character check-ins ### Joanna Marshall Thriving as a concert singer, she shares a romantic evening with Peter in Philadelphia, accepting a ring but struggling to express her love fully due to her career focus. ### Peter Bye Deeply in love with Joanna, he gives her a ring and expresses frustration at her emotional distance; later, he reconnects with Maggie Ellersley in Philadelphia. ### Maggie Ellersley Now living in Philadelphia, she has left her husband Henderson Neal and is seeking a divorce; she works as a supervisor for Madame Harkness and shares her troubled past with Peter. ### Sylvia Marshall Mentioned as the designer of Joanna's stage gowns, contributing to Joanna's artistic success. ### Henderson Neal Maggie's estranged husband, a gambler who left her but occasionally threatens her; he is the subject of Maggie's divorce proceedings. ## Key lines > She would come on the stage, trailing clouds of glory, and lean toward them⁠—a rosy brown vision. Joanna would appear on stage with an almost ethereal presence, leaning toward the audience as a beautiful, brown-skinned figure. _Highlights Joanna's stage presence and her connection to her audience._ > I am no better than you. You are no worse than I. Whatever I am, you, in your children, may be. Whatever you are, I in my father have been. She felt a deep equality with her audience, believing that her achievements could be replicated in their children and that she embodied her father's legacy. _Reflects Joanna's sincere philosophy about art and social equality._ > How can she melt like she did last night and then leave me so cool and composed this morning? Peter wondered how Joanna could be so affectionate one moment and so distant the next. _Illustrates Peter's confusion and frustration with Joanna's emotional inconsistency._ > I'd married a gambler, a common gambler. And I'd wanted so to be decent! Maggie lamented that she had married a gambler, despite her desire for a respectable life. _Reveals Maggie's regret and the contrast between her aspirations and reality._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/there_is_confusion_se/chapters/xv - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/there_is_confusion_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/there_is_confusion_se/chapters