The dramatic honor conflict
When we meet Robert Burton, he is way out in the wilderness. Death is in the air. He has a bitterly kept secret that he wants to share with the world; he and his wife are married, so his daughter can be seen as legitimate (according to old-timey moral ideas). He wants to restore his wife's honor and his daughter's honor, but he is too far away. The honor is kept in dramatic irony. Then, along comes a strange old guy, and who should be but the wife's own father! Who better to make peace with than him? And as if that is not ironic enough, the two fellas end up dying that very day, out in the desert.
The melodrama of death
Death sets the tone for drama. The dramatic irony of death is literally depicted as a major aspect of this book. The reader does not get to see the dramatic tension resolved until later in the book, when Gale and Nell end up getting married. In their union there is a climactic moment when Gale accepts Nell no matter what her social standing is, and then they stumble upon a symbol for death: Nell's own father and maternal grandfather, making peace in their tomb, and there is also the literal inheritance of her ancestors. This melodrama depicts the feelings of marriage in light of death.
The irony of identity and treasure
For Nell, the marriage certificate permanently settling her honor and social standing, that is actually the greater treasure. But this comes with a karmic improvement, like their lives just leveled up. Now they are like a petty king and queen in the desert, with enough money to build a new little dominion for themselves. They have the proper paperwork to be accepted in the feudal landscape of the Wild West, and they have the most important thing of all; Nell's security in her own honor and worth. Ironically, the best part of the treasure is not wealth or privilege; it is redemption.
Gale and Rojas
Nell has an broad spectrum of men whom she attracts. So broad a spectrum is it that she simultaneously allures the hero and the villain, without even trying. Gale is there as a hero, rescuing her from her wrong feelings of self-hatred and confusion, and Rojas is there as a villain, to obtain control over someone whom he considers to be weak. Gale empowers her, and in the course of the story, their marriage becomes more and more obvious, especially when Rojas is defeated.
The ironic redemption of love
Gale experiences the irony of love's redemptive power. By accepting and approving of Nell even in her weakest, most insecure state, Gale is entitled to see who she becomes with authority beneath her wings. When she gains confidence about her worth, he sees her for who she really is. Gale's love for Nell entitles him to a sort of mythic vision of his new bride; she is seen in the tomb of her ancestors with a certificate of her worth and a pile of treasure. The couple restores her to her proper state of authority by the redemptive love of someone who accepts her as she is.
