To the Editor:

I believe that William S. Pechter [“Deep Tango,” July] has missed the step in the tango. The meaning of the sensation caused by Last Tango in Paris is not “we want pornography,” as he claims; rather, the excitement generated by the movie is caused by its depiction of ideas whose roots in art and literature reach back to Greek mythology: the archetypal tragedy of Man destroyed by Woman. . . . So, in Last Tango, Paul, although completely dominating Jeanne in the beginning, is predestined to be vanquished by her in the end. . . .

Janice D. Madoff
Newton Centre. Massachusetts