Egalitarian Roots of the Game

"By This Axe I Rule!"
The White Box describes a default setting similar in many ways to the European middle ages. The technology is similar with swords and armor being the weapons of war, people living in castles and walled cities and riding horses. To borrow a phrase, it is a world lit only by fire. Much like the middle ages it is a superstitious world where people believe magic works and gods, devils and demons interact in people's lives. Kings and queens rule, princes and princesses need saved and evil barons plot foul schemes in the dark. But for me there was always one glaring difference, egalitarianism. That modern idea that all people are created equal and each has the chance to go as far as his/her talents can take them in life is an underlying assumption. The PC starts with nothing (a few gold coins) and can rise to be monarch, or at least a lord with a castle and some estate lands. Each PC, no matter how humble their birth, is entitled to improve their position in society, unfettered by social restrictions.  Being a student of history, this always struck me as very non-medieval, an inconsistency or anachronism. During the middle ages it was common for each generation to do the same kind of work as the previous generation of a family. Society was divided into classes and there was little or no mobility between classes. If you were born a peasant, you were always a peasant. You might become a wealthy peasant, but always a peasant. I often wonder if Mr Gygax and Mr. Arneson (both members of the Castles and Crusades Society of medieval wargamers) gave it much thought when designing their game, or themselves being a part of a society founded on egalitarian principles, "all men (people) are created equal", they just took it for granted that PCs were not limited by being born into some social class from which it was difficult or impossible to escape.
There of course is another interest other than the middle ages that heavily influenced the authors of the White Box, fantastic literature. The stories that were variously termed, fairy tales, myths and legends, the sword & sorcery tales of pulp fiction, and the more fantastic tales found in science fiction were all influential and helped inspire the idea of fantasy gaming and specifically influenced the shape the White Box rules took. One need only read through the list of monsters to recognize beasts borrowed directly from fairy tale, myth and legend. The influence of sword & sorcery and other literature is there too, although it is sometimes more subtle. Among these sources of inspiration the hero's social class is often either irrelevant or plays little part in limiting the character's ability to act and achieve. In literature it is not hard to find the rag-to-riches character or the adventurer who wins a kingdom.