O, sir! You are old;
Nature in you stands on the very verge
Of her confine. You should be rul’d and led
By some discretion that discerns your state
Better than you yourself. Therefore, I pray you
That to our sister you do make return.
Say you have wronged her.

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4. Regan doesn’t mince her words here and shows her disrespect for Lear, after he curses his other daughter Goneril because of her unkindness to him. Regan bluntly tells Lear that he is old and is at the very edge of his natural lifespan. She suggests that Lear, who has handed over his kingdom to his daughters, is too old to even govern himself. He should let others take care of him who understand him better than he understands himself. And he should go back to Goneril’s house and admit that he was wrong. In this speech Regan is patronizing and exerts her power by holding up Lear’s impotence before him.