The irony of punishing Shahrazad
The story starts with a big irony: The sultan has decided all women are the same, so now he's punishing young women—virgins of all people, who are literally symbolic reminders of purity (they certainly have never broken anyone's heart), and Shahrazad is one of those. She is to be executed, when ironically, she is the victim of a rape scenario.
The irony of salvation in story
The young women who come before young Shahrazad are under the impression that, since sex is what the sultan is stealing from them, that perhaps good sex will leave them with their life, but Shahrazad's salvation comes when she realizes that what he really wants is something she can give him not through sex but through story. By choosing narrative as her weapon, she disarms him by proving her empathy.
The irony of the patriarchy
The picture is of a wealthy lord using his power to deprive his own community of all their young women by stealing the virginity of the young girls, and then murdering them. The ironic depiction of patriarchy is poignant, because it captures the ironic nature of misogyny. He hates his wife so much for sleeping with multiple people, so much that he literally kills her and becomes a serial murderer—but yet, he sleeps with anyone and everyone he wants to, by force if necessary.
The irony of fear
In Sindbad's stories, the reader might expect to find the hero from olden tellings, which of course they do find. Many of his stories are preserved or at least mentioned in homage. But then, there is a new element, a more ironic element. When the reader learns about the fear that Sindbad experiences, the reader sees that he has more humanity than exalted tales capture. He is ironically human.
The irony of trust
Truly, trust is the rare currency in this story. There is no trust in the sultan whatsoever for women. There is no trust in the romances of the cheated husbands and wives of Shahrazad's tales, and although she knows how to be successful with the Sultan, through womanly instinct, she absolutely does not trust him. The irony is that her stories all point to trustworthiness as a prerequisite to love.
