In ‘The Plough and the Stars’ it is particularly evident that the deep-seated attitudes in relation to social class determine the probability of social change. Nora is described as “getting notions of upperosity” in the opening scenes of ‘The Plough and the Stars’. Nora would like to get out of the tenements and create a better life for herself and Jack. However, with the attitudes displayed in this text, it doesn’t appear likely. The people of the tenements seem to think she is acting foolishly for an inhabitant of a tenement. As Fluther says: “A-a-ah, that’s going’ beyond th’ beyonds in a tenement house. That’s a little bit too derogatory.” The issue of social mobility is also addressed in ‘The Great Gatsby’. Gatsby is not part of what is depicted as ‘old money’. His wealth is newly acquired and thus is met with a sort of skepticism and superiority from the Buchannans’. There is a similarity between Myrtle, Gatsby and Nora in their aspirations. However, their ambitions and methods are all determined by the deep-seated attitudes within their respective cultural contexts. In contrast, there is a definite feeling radiating from both Daisy and Tom that their wealth allows them to rise above all societal expectations, the complete opposite to that of ‘The King’s Speech’. In ‘The King’s Speech’, as part of the royal family, Bertie holds certain duties regardless of his personal ambition, driven entirely by deep-seated expectations of an entire nation. These expectations push him to the very top of the hierarchy unlike the characters of ‘The Plough and the Stars’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’. Indeed, these expectations appear much stronger: he was forced to write with his right hand, he couldn’t do certain things that other children could like build model planes because of social status, etc. There is a definite impossibility of social change in terms of class in ‘The King’s Speech’. The closest thing to such a change is the abdication which is portrayed in an overtly negative light. In all three texts, an impossibility is associated with social mobility due to deep-seated attitudes and expectations in their respective societies.

Gender holds certain expectations in all three texts. In ‘The King’s Speech’, Elizabeth’s role is to support her husband as she effectively does when she finds Lionel Logue: “As far as I am concerned, my husband has mechanical difficulties with his speech.” In contrast, Wallis Simpson defies this role by becoming the reason that David abdicates the throne. This is, however, frowned upon by almost everyone including Elizabeth. It appears that social change is possible in terms of the role of women in ‘The King’s Speech’, however due ti deep-seated attitudes and expectations, it remains frowned-upon by society. In contrast, in ‘The Plough and the Stars’, the role of women is for pleasing men and keeping them interested: “the wandher of a woman wears off after a while.” Nora, while fitting this role, also defies her husband. She follows Jack out into the barracks and makes a show of him. Besides this degrading attitude, there is the same expectation as in ‘The King’s Speech’ for a woman to be supportive. This is evident when Captain Brennan says that Nora should be around knowing that her husband died for a brave cause. However, Nora has already been driven to insanity by her husband’s absence and the premature death of her baby. I think that social change is illustrated in ‘The Plough and the Stars’ in terms of the role of women despite the deep-seated attitudes and expectations of society, as Capt. Brennan’s comment seemed to anger the people of the tenement. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, the role of women is depicted in the first chapter by Daisy when she speaks about her daughter: “I hope she’ll be a fool, a beautiful little fool. That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world.” Ironically, Tom preaches that interracial marriage offends the concept of family as he cheats on Daisy and physically acts out against Myrtle. Daisy knows about Tom’s affair with Myrtle, yet she doesn’t seem to do anything about it. However, I do not think that Daisy was a fool as some of her actions appear calculated and manipulative. She too has an affair with Gatsby. She defies the role created for women by society in ‘The Great Gatsby’. I don’t think attitudes or expectations as strong in ‘The Great Gatsby’ as in ‘The Plough and the Stars’ and ‘The King’s Speech’, certainly not as they relate to the role of women.