When England's aging King Lear renounces his throne to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, treachery, madness and murder soon follow. After banishing Cordelia, his most loyal daughter, Lear is betrayed and cast out by her elder sisters Regan and Goneril. Meanwhile, evil brews at the Gloucester castle as Edgar falls victim to his brother's deception. As battle lines are drawn and backs are stabbed, Lear rages against a fearsome storm. Can a man undo his wrongs? Will Cordelia be saved? Or will the wheels of fate crush all in its way?
Cuando Isabel I (1558-1603), hija de Enrique VIII y Ana Bolena, se convierte en reina de Inglaterra y cabeza de la Iglesia anglicana, tropieza con la oposición de los católicos, que consideran que la legítima heredera del trono inglés es su prima María Estuardo (Vanessa Redgrave), la católica reina de Escocia. Tras el triunfo de los protestantes escoceses, María se ve obligada a abdicar en favor de su hijo Jacobo, pero, poco después, comete el error de huir a Inglaterra, donde es encarcelada y procesada por orden de su prima Isabel (Glenda Jackson), que nunca dejó de considerarla una amenaza.
