Lady Bracknell in the importance of being Ernest is a very important character.

Her character growth is one of the more interesting in the play.

Her role is that of an antagonist. She won't allow marriages to take place. Lady
Bracknell represents the upper classes and fashions throughout the novel. More
importantly, she was a strong female figure for the time. Women were, sadly,
expected to do what they were told and yet Lady Bracknell defies her husband and
tells him what to do.

Her personality has an unnatural view of what is serious and what is not. When
interviewing Jack, she places importance on odd things, like when she is extremely
impressed when Jack reveals that he is a smoker - 'every man must have a hobby,
there are too many idle men today.' She is rather unsympathetic which is
empowering in that era. She is also surprisingly caring, beneath her harsh
exterior. She cares deeply about who her daughter marries.

Regarding the growth and development of her character, she begins the play being
very strict, firm and conscious of trends. She allows Gendolen and Jack to marry
when he proves himself to be in the same class as Gwendolen, which is important
because she accepts Jack for who he is. I believe that it was not just the change
in class of Jack that caused her to allow them to marry, but towards the end, her
acceptance of his character that he would be good for Gwendolen. Subtext is
important to note here, as her tone subtly shifts. She also quickly accepts Jack
as her nephew when this evidence is revealed, which means quite a bit to Jack.

We find out that Lady Bracknell is also from a lower class and background than her
husband, which is pretty hypocritical. This is important to my previous statement
where I claim that Lady Bracknell openly accepts Jack not just because his class
has changed, but also how she believes Jack to be, in all earnest, a good person.
She is not in a happy marriage, which plays to the themes of the play in a way - as
she does not believe in divorce most likely due to her Christianity and the time
this took place, it is important to her to find a good partner for Gwendolen.

I believe Lady Bracknell is an interesting character in the Importance of Being

Ernest, and her strong female role in a period of sexism is the reason that I chose
to investigate her further.