"Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling, 'wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather" (Brontë 38).
Contemporary critics of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) used words like "unconventional" and "original" to describe the novel, but the most common complaint was that the story was "coarse."
"Coarse [adjective]
of ordinary or inferior quality of value.
crude or unrefined in taste, manners, or language.
harsh, raucous, or rough in tone.
synonyms: vulgar, gross, obscene, ribald" (Merriam-Webster).
Wuthering Heights not only presents an out-of-the-way setting (implying it is less refined than a metropolis) with harsh weather and local dialect (implying a rougher lower classes), it also includes implicit and explicit violence, psychological turmoil and manipulation, and ugly emotions like grief and vengeance.
It's a story that deserves a stiff cocktail.
Let me introduce you to the cocktail Cathy's Whip (a generic take on the ingredients for a Dark 'N' Stormy since, by law, a Dark 'N' Stormy cocktail can only be made using Gosling’s Black Seal Rum and Gosling’s Ginger Beer).
We are introduced to Cathy Earnshaw as she requests her father bring her back a whip from his travels as "she could ride any horse in the stable" (65). However, as the tale unfolds between Cathy and Heathcliff, this whip becomes much more symbolic of Cathy's hold on, and manipulation of, those around her.
Much like a storm cloud, and the 'cloud' of rum in this cocktail, Cathy remains hovering just out of reach, threatening, for most of the novel.
2 oz Dark rum
1/2 Fresh lime
Ginger beer, to taste
2 - 4 Drops Angostura bitters
Fill half a highball class with ice and squeeze half a lime into it.
Next, top with ginger beer, leaving two or three inches of space from the lip of your glass.
Measure out your rum and then place a spoon over the top of your lime/ginger beer mixture. Slowly poor rum over the spoon, easing its way into the glass—this will create the storm cloud.
Add a few drops of bitters to the liquid and a slice of lime to the rim of the glass. Give the drink a swirl before sipping.
Of course, please drink responsibly. We all know how Hindley Earnshaw fares in the novel when he indulges in too much drink.
Like to sip a tipple while reading a page turner? Check out what other books are being discussed at upcoming virtual literary salons. This is not your average book club.
There is no intention of any kind to infringe on the cocktail trademark.