It is clear that Wilde recognized the gender qualities of his day, and often tried to show these through the characters in his plays.
In "The Importance of Being Earnest" the interactions between the characters are often about power plays. Men in Wilde's day had greater influence than women. They made the important decisions for their families, while women worked at home, taking care of the children.
The respectable Miss Prism, a governess, clearly did not represent the norm in a society where men were admired for their intelligence and women for their beauty. As an unmarried woman in a society that centered on marriage, Miss Prism's role gave her identity and status where normally she would have had neither. But she was totally non-maternal, and horrified at the end when Jack called her "Mother." She harbored secret feelings for the parson, Dr Chasuble, but was too straight-laced to show them. The single male characters, on the other hand, had no qualms about flirting with the women they were attracted to.
Miss Prism is in some ways a comic character, but she does make a point for Wilde about the unfairness of the society of which they were a part.
*
