Clearly, one of the most important social phenomena of the early years of the twentieth century was an old one: the subordinate and often terribly suppressed position of women. No one was more aware of this fact than Colette, partially because of the circumstances and events of her life and partly because of her own sensitivity and sympathy. Her experience as the wife of the dominating, worldly Willy cer tainly intensified her awareness of the grim fact that, until 1893 (the year of her marriage to Willy), a woman routinely was paid half the salary given to a man doing the same job. Perhaps more maddening to Colette was the fact that, until 1907, women were not allowed to handle their own money — a wife's income was managed by her husband. Thus, a central theme of The Vagabond emerges as a dual dilemma: the heroine, Renee Nere...