In this act of The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell comes to the country to see her daughter and nephew. At this point in the play, Algernon and Cecily are engaged, without Lady Bracknell's knowledge. Lady Bracknell is first appalled at the engagement, until she hears of Cecily's inheritance: 130,000 pounds. After she hears this, Lady Bracknell agrees to let the two be married.
Lady Bracknell: Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can't get into it do that. [To Cecily.] Dear child, of course you know that Algernon has nothing but his debts to depend upon. But I do not approve of mercenary marriages. When I married Lord Bracknell I had no fortune of any kind. But I never dreamed for a moment of allowing that to stand in my way. Well, I suppose I must give my consent. (Act III).
Here, Lady Bracknell is much like Lady Catherine. Both women married into a fortune, and because of this, they feel as if it is acceptable to judge others based on the amount of money they have. Both women also believe that marriage is arranged due to social class. When Lady Bracknell discovers Cecily's fortune, she allows the marriage to remain valid because of Cecily's sums of money in the bank. In both works of literature, both women find it socially acceptable to interrogate the women engaged, which it its not. Lady Bracknell and Lady Catherine also portray extremes of upper class Victorian society.
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