Oscar Wilde Gender Roles

In the importance of being earnest Oscar Wilde inverts conventional gender assumptions, and accepted norms. He was one of the first writers of the 19th century to move away from melodramatic plays and adopt a sense of realism to his writing. He uses comedy to be able to lightheartedly mock and critique power structures of Victorian England.
The ridiculousness of how Lady Bracknell upholds Victorian traditions and moral conduct, yet at the same time assumes the role of a father is what makes gender role reversals comedic in The Importance of being Earnest. Lady Bracknell character consistently challenges male dominance; she has more power and character than males in the play, for example she assumes the position of head of the family by seeing