The Chaperone

Louise and the Brooks family are the only characters based closely on their historical counterparts, and Louise acts as an important foil for Cora. She is a young, energetic dancer who is enthralled by the arts, rebels against social convention at almost every opportunity, and has adopted avant-garde mannerisms and fashion. Cora is aware of Louise’s short haircut, short skirts, and low-cut blouses, all of which indicate a disregard for the ideals of traditional feminine beauty and sexual purity espoused by previous generations. Louise is described as quite beautiful and is aware both of her beauty and her dancing talent, possessing a confidence that sometimes strays into arrogance.

Louise hopes to become famous and cosmopolitan as a dancer and actress and longs to leave Kansas behind. She eventually attains her goal when she is asked to become a permanent part of the Denishawn dance company. Throughout the book, she uses her sexual appeal to gain attention and favors, and she disdains the feelings of those she considers “provincial” (unsophisticated or overly conventional), including Cora. She can be self-absorbed and self-centered, lacking empathy for others. Her relationships with her siblings and father seem functional, but her relationship with her mother, Myra, is overwhelmingly hostile, as Myra takes out her frustration and bitterness about her own unrealized artistic dreams on her children, particularly Louise.

Louise’s cynical, provocative demeanor sometimes protects her from scrutiny or from betraying vulnerability, as when she repeatedly brushes off Cora’s inquiries about religion and Sunday school. Later, when her inhibitions recede in her drunken state and she tells Cora about her sexual molestation as a child, it becomes clear that she was guarded about the subject of church and religion because she associates these things with behavior that she knows society would not approve of and that she feels some shame about.

Louise is a relatively static character whose qualities do not change over the course of the book. Despite her static nature, she represents the sweeping changes of a younger generation in the 1920s. In her later career, her character also serves as a reminder of the fast-changing nature of show business and popular entertainment as she is left behind in the era of the “talkies.” This discrepancy is ironic because Louise appears as a trailblazer early in the novel.  

Alan is a successful, well-liked lawyer. Though better-educated than Cora and possessing more social capital than her at the beginning of their marriage, Cora quickly becomes integrated into Wichita society and becomes a successful part of it. The early discrepancy, however, bothers Cora in hindsight when his homosexuality is revealed.

Alan is kind and calm and represents conventional values in many ways—with the notable exception of his sexuality, which was considered “deviant” at the time. His illicit relationship with Raymond and his struggles with his sexuality bring him pain and trauma as much as they bring him pleasure, at least early in the book. His conventional, prosaic personality is at odds with his sexual needs. Later, he and Cora come to the tacit agreement that having lovers while remaining married to each other is acceptable. This agreement cements Alan’s bond with Cora, with whom he has shared parenting and the non-sexual aspects of married life. This bond allows them to have a relatively conflict-free middle- and old-age life together, as both he and Cora learn to tolerate the discrepancies between social expectations and their desires.  

Joseph’s role as a relative newcomer to American society gives him a distance from American ideals that makes him a foil to Alan. He considers himself a loyal American but was held at an internment camp during World War I because he refused to swear a loyalty oath on demand. His sense of dignity and self-possession are insulted by this demand, so he bears the consequences of his action.

There are other differences between Alan and Joseph: Joseph does not seem to possess much education when Cora first meets him. He ran his own beer garden before going to the internment camp, performs physical jobs at the orphanage, and has a simply furnished apartment that indicates a modest lifestyle. Cora and Alan, meanwhile, are at the top tier of Wichita society and have ample financial comfort, as made evident by Cora hiring a cleaning woman, her Model-T car, and their large, stylishly furnished house. However, Cora’s own modest origins align with Joseph’s social status, another sign that they are compatible in many ways despite their surface-level differences. Joseph’s character emphasizes physicality and straightforwardness. He is not duplicitous, making his desire for Cora clear as soon as she tells him about Alan’s homosexuality; not only does he not suppress his desires, but he also communicates them when he senses that she won’t object.

Although he doesn’t seem to be upwardly mobile at the beginning of the story, Joseph eventually gains a more prestigious job at the Boeing factory in Wichita. He remains firmly in the physical realm (rather than Alan, whose law work is more intellectual) as he engineers airplanes. He’s characterized as a good listener and devoted to his daughter, Greta.