Discuss the role of Lady Bracknell in the importance of being earnest.

In the play The importance of being earnest written by Oscar Wilde, Lady
Bracknell, the most memorable character in the play, plays a tremendous role
within the play. Lady Bracknell has a large impact on the audience as she keeps
the play humorous, and Wilde uses her character to poke fun at the aristocratic
stereotype of the time.

Lady Bracknell, Mother to Gwendolen and Aunt to Algernon, is snobbish, arrogant

and believes only her opinion is correct. We see this when she is questioning Jack
on what happened to his parents and she says To lose one parent Mr. Worthing,
may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. This
quote shows that as a character she shows no emotions, and only cares for
herself. It also represents that one of her roles in the play is to destroy other
characters emotions and arise arguments amongst herself and others.

Lady Bracknell as a character is an expression of Oscar Wildes opinion of the

Victorian aristocracy at the time. He pokes fun at the stereotype and uses her as
a medium to express his thoughts and opinions of the upper class. We this in
moments such as when she says Indeed, no woman should ever be quite
accurate about her age. It looks so calculating, this shows that Lady Bracknell is
unintentionally humorous at times, and doesnt realise that she is doing so. Many
of other characters have a fear when in the presence of Lady Bracknell, meaning
her role causes nervousness and agitation.

In the play, Lady Bracknell makes constant remarks at the lower class and she
looks down her nose at them. Her constant commentary on social class structure
is Wildes own commentary about how the privileged class of England keeps its
power. Lady Bracknell strongly believes that the middle and lower class should
not be privileged with needs such as education, as they may overrun the upper
class if they get to smart.