Oscar Wilde satirizes the hypocrisy and stupidity of the strict Victorian aristocracy through the characters of The Importance of Being Serious . It can be argued that the women in the play are usurping male power and this is what constitutes comedy because it would have been humorous for a patriarchal audience. Lady Bracknell is the archetype of absolute stature for a woman of the world, while the characters of Gwendolyn and Cecily show the potential to rival this type of power in the future. Lady Bracknell can be said to be the character who wields the most power and authority throughout the play. In this sense, the character's social position within the upper class allows him to usurp the masculine power of the play. The playwright achieves this through the use of comedic techniques such as farce, witty puns and the theme of marriage. Wilde depicts Lady Bracknell's power and authority through the theme of marriage. The character's own marriage makes it clear who is in charge, as shown in the line "Your uncle should have dinner upstairs." Luckily, he's used to that. Farce is used to create comedy because the fact that Lord Bracknell is "accustomed" to dining upstairs suggests that this is a common occurrence. Compared to modern audiences, Victorian audiences would have interpreted this as more ridiculous since Lady Bracknell's suggested power over her husband goes against the social codes of the time. This makes her appear more masculine to the Victorian audience. The idea of ​​a powerful woman was not fully accepted even though Queen Victoria was on the throne. In many ways, Lady Bracknell is the leading representation of Victorian morality which, according to Wilde, cares little about how good a person is as long as the... middle of paper ... the power of all exceeds that of others male characters. like Algernon and Jack, who initially have their own unresolved personal crises, which places them lower on the social group ladder. There is the idea that Wilde is portraying Lady Bracknell as the ideal upper-class female figure that Gwendolyn and Cecily should aim to rival in the future. However, the playwright already demonstrates how the young women in the play constitute the main source of conflict, because they are the objects of affection, so the notion of the "New Woman" can allow them to rise above that of the older women, which always have a patriarchal character. values, power in society. At the same time, Wilde is able to criticize the drama that not only women but the entire upper class creates from the details of each person's personal affairs. Wilde's ultimate point is that comedy reacts against social conformity..