Traditional gender roles
If women are inherently weaker than men (they are not weaker, but that is the traditional opinion from human history) then it is situationally ironic for this society to further burden a woman who fails to find the right person. As if to add insult to injury, Belinda's failure to be married leads her community to harsh judgments about her character. This is a major irony in the novel which continues to be thematic throughout the novel. The narrative suggests a feminist critique of misogyny.
Drama and secrecy
Belinda discovers a secret which reveals dramatic irony; secretly Lady Delacour has been going to the doctor and fighting breast cancer, but she has told no one and refuses to allow others to be there for her or support her. The drama points to her politeness and her unfamiliarity with intimacy. The secrecy between them leads to damage in their friendship which must also be healed through time. The secret makes Lady Delacour suspect that Belinda is also secretive because of projection and she lashes out at Belinda when she is confronted.
Shame as irony
The irony of Belinda's shame underlines the feminist argument by resubmitting Belinda to the social shame that defined her character as a single woman. The irony again is that for socially constructed reasons, Belinda is treated as an untrustworthy person. That shame is undeserved—she proves that well in the book's final act. The irony seems to be an indication that shame is not a trustworthy human emotion because shame can be cast onto people for unfair or illogical reasons.
Healing as irony
Because of the tone of the novel and the drama of Lady Delacour's battle with cancer, one might feel that it is ironic when Lady Delacour heals instead of dying as the doctor believed she might. The prognosis changes, but still the risk of death exists, making death into a kind of dramatic tension. Against this tension, the healing is accentuated by contrast. In the end, the woman's healed body seems to align symbolically with the healing that she experiences socially by finding in Belinda a true and loyal friend.
Suffering and friendship
Belinda experiences a social norm where personal feelings and opinions are regarded as private and emotional. Instead of openly discussing life's woes, the societal expectations make people shy and shameful, but that is deeply ironic situationally speaking because community is a major asset in life's suffering. The dramatic irony that Belinda discovers is one with thematic importance: We never really know what others in our community might be going through. The novel urges humans to support one another.
