I was reading Shakespeare the other day and I wonder…
An onion will do well for such a shift,
Which in a napkin being close conveyed
Shall in despite enforce a watery eye…
I interpreted it as following:
If you can’t cry when you don’t want to, but you have to,
Use an onion in a handkerchief
And rub it under your eyes
Then you will cry in no time.
What do you say? @Anglophile, @Torsten. Did I interpret it well?
Hi Marc, Yes, you’ve got the right idea! This passage comes from The Taming of the Shrew (Act 3, Scene 2). The speaker, Gremio, is describing how a trick can be used to fake tears—by hiding an onion in a napkin and using it to provoke crying.
Your interpretation captures the essence: if you need to cry but can’t, an onion will do the trick. Shakespeare’s language is just a more poetic way of saying it!
Indeed the Taming of the Shrew, but it’s a passage from the induction, scene 1, a conversation between the lord and a player, an actor, if you will.
Thank you, however, for confirming that I interepreted the text correctly. Yet, I wouldn’t say ‘provoke crying’, I’d say ‘using it for the person to tear up to cry’.
You’re absolutely right—it’s from the Induction, Scene 1, where the Lord instructs the Player on how to convincingly play the part of a sorrowful woman. Thanks for catching that!
And I see your point about the phrasing—using it for the person to tear up to cry does sound more precise than provoke crying. It captures the idea that the onion causes tears as a physical reaction, which can then be used to feign genuine emotion. Nicely put!
I do have my moments, Torsten, I really do. 
Yes, Marc! 
It suggests that an onion can make someone cry or shift (change) their expression or can stimulate (acting out) false emotions!
Nowadays, it’s glycerine that plays the role of the onion!
Thank you Lawrence, I was thinking of glycerine, but I didn’t know that was the correct word. Perhaps I should use my dictionaries more often, but then again, it’s nice to have someone like you around, because you’re a walking, talking, living dictionary, aren’t you? I know my answer is a little Cliff-Richard-like, but who cares?