Who is Emily’s rival? To what degree does she try to equal, emulate or excel her?

Emily is a name derived from Aemilius, which is an old Roman name derived from aemulus that means trying to equal, excel or emulate a rival. The name Emily could have also originated from the Greek name aimulos, which means friendly and tender.

For as long as Emily can remember, her sister Hermione has been her rival. Due to Emily’s education being cut short, Hermione has always overshadowed her as a child with all her achievements. Emily is also aggrieved by her sister’s abandonment of her children as she runs away to France with her new lover during a messy divorce and she is left to look after the Quincey’s children; Lola, Jackson and Pierrot. She tries to equal, emulate and excel Hermione to a certain extent because her sister is not present in her life so she has no need to try and surpass her in simple, everyday matters. She only tries to surpass her in more important matters like marriage and family.

Emily’s anger and irritation for Hermione is evident in chapter 12. “Hermione has lisped and pranced and pirouetted through their childhoods, showing off at every available moment with no thoughts – so her scowling, silent older sister believed – for how ludicrous and desperate she appeared.” This quote suggests that even though people may have thought that Hermione was a ‘perfect’ child Emily saw through her flawless qualities, that everyone praised, to her true imperfect side, such as her speech defect. Emily is also described as ‘silent’ in this quote because she feels as though her voice cannot be heard when her sister is around because she steals the limelight.

The most vivid memory Emily has that indicates her rivalry between her and Hermione was when she ran through a window and Hermione had to be the centre of attention, so she had a panic attack. “Emily had shocked a roomful of visitors by running into a French window and cutting her hand […] it was the nine-year-old Hermione who took centre stage with a screaming attack.” This incident in Emily’s childhood suggests that even when Emily was badly hurt, her sister Hermione always had to be in the spotlight and surpass her sister, so she faked a screaming attack just to get the adults attention.

When Emily was a child, she was much more reserved then her sister so she did not try to emulate her but as she grew older their rivalry became more important to her. Emily tries to excel her sister, who just got divorced, by having a ‘successful’ marriage. However, her marriage is not successful because Jack is having an affair but she turns a blind eye, hoping he will come back to her when they retire.

Emily’s personality suits her name because even though she does, in some ways, try to outdo her sister, her tenderness and friendliness has always outshone this. Never once when her sister stole her limelight did she lash out at her and during this unstable time in the Quincey’s life, she has taken the children in, which indicates her kindness. Emily also welcomes all these guests, even Paul Marshall who she does not know, into her home and accommodates them.