Put on what weary negligence you please,
You and your fellows. I’d have it come to question.
If he distaste it, let him to my sister,
Whose mind and mine I know in that are one,
Not to be overruled. Idle old man
That still would manage those authorities
That he hath given away. Now, by my life,
Old fools are babes again and must be used
With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abused.
Remember what I have said.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 1, Scene 3. Goneril’s evil intent and wicket behavior towards her retired father can be seen when she instructs the servant Oswald to be rude and less polite to Lear. She calls him a foolish old man, who believes he can still wield the power that he has given away. Old fools become like babies again, she points out to Oswald, and they must be disciplined instead of flattered when they are misguided.