Helen's despair is related to the fact that she's coming towards the end of her productive life and yet is unable to let go. She's built her own little Mecca in the home in which she's lived for so many years, and it's all about to be taken away from her due to the onset of old age. Helen's very much a free spirit, an individualist who enjoys the freedom to make her own decisions and live the kind of life she wants to lead, despite her advancing years. That explains why she's been plunged into such despair over the prospect of ending up in an old folks' home run by the church. She knows this will mean the end of her cherished independence.

Elsa's despair is in some ways also related to her free-spirited nature. Never one to accept the mores and conventions of society unthinkingly, Elsa chooses to live her life on her own terms, not anyone else's. The downside of such an admirable attitude, however, is that Elsa has ended up being emotionally hurt by the break-up of a recent relationship and subsequent abortion. For Elsa, as for Helen, it becomes impossible to defy society forever, and the gap between what they want out of life and what's possible induces despair in both of them.