Who is Matilda Wormwood from Matilda and what is their importance?

Matilda is the story's protagonist and she is five-and-half years old for the main events of the novel. She has a mother, a father, and an older brother named Michael, and when meeting her for the first time, a person might not notice that there is anything unusual about her. In fact, even her family doesn't think that she is anything special, treating her instead like she is a nuisance and a brat who talks back. The truth, however, is that Matilda is anything but ordinary. By the age of three, she had taught herself to read, and she is only four when she walks to the library in search of better reading material. She is soon able to enjoy classic literature intended for adults. In addition to being a genius with language, Matilda is a brilliant mathematician, able to do multiplication problems in her head like a calculator.