What became of King Lear's wife? She has died before the story in William Shakespeare's tragedy begins, and we are not told of her fate. And perhaps the fact that it was his last play influenced the dark and dreadful ending, which later writers sought to temper. These elements - the fate of Lear's wife, Cordelia and Lear himself - cry for redemption, and that is what this story "The Queen Must Die" sets out to do - how successfully the reader must judge