Wilde's genre of choice for The Importance of Being Earnest is the Victorian melodrama, or "sentimental comedy," derived from the French variety of "well-made play". In the Victorian era, wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to oversee the domestic duties that were increasingly carried out by servants. In The Importance of Being Earnest, however, this is not always the case, as gender role reversal is a common theme throughout the play, which naturally leads to comedy, as during the Victorian Era in the Aristocratic part of society, gender roles were very firmly set, so when this is reversed an audience would find it funny as it is completely out of social norms. The characters who are used to implement this theme are not only the women, but also the men, whom each have inverted gender roles in order to get ascendancy over each other. However, at other points in the play the female characters display very stereotypical female behavior, so would go against the concept of them resulting with the upper hand.
In traditional Victorian society, it is usually the man who controls the life of his wife. However, in the case of the marriage between Lord and Lady Bracknell, Lady Bracknell seems to be the one in charge with the most power, therefore giving her the upper hand. However, Lady Bracknell places very high importance on following social etiquette, which she shows when Gwendoline reveals her plans of marriage, "When you do become engaged to someone, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact.", which is Lady Bracknell showing her willingness to follow the social convention of the Victorian Era of arranged marriage. The order of pronouns in this statement is interesting, as Lady Bracknell puts "I" before "your father", again reinforcing the idea that Lady Bracknell puts herself before her husband in terms of importance.
