An old lady is dying. At her bedside sits her eldest daughter, Jean, who has nursed her throughout. When the younger sister, Rita, arrives the daughters angrily bicker and bait each other, gradually revealing the miserable unhappiness of their own lives. Jean gives vent to her feelings with biting, black humour and sarcasm, berating Rita, who has remained deaf to entreaties for help nursing the mother. The ultimate schism comes with the mother's final outburst, denouncing Jean and telling Rita all will be left to her.