Feminism taken to extremes in a streetcar called misogyny As women's studies programs proliferated in American universities, feminist "rereadings" of some classic authors gave us the most nonsense of the texts of these authors. A case in point is Kathleen Margaret Lant's interpretation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in her essay entitled "A Streetcar Named Misogyny." Throughout the essay, she continually misinterprets Williams' intentions, which obviously makes her misunderstand the work itself. Stating that the play "has proven irritating to audiences, directors, actors, readers, and critics" (Lant 227), she fails to see that she herself finds the play irritating, because it does not fit well to the distorted feminist vision. structure that he would try to impose on him. His first problem is with the play's heroine, Blanche DuBois, who, he argues, is "ironically made guilty of her own victimization. No longer fully human, she is simply a metaphor for all that is vile towards women. Blanche cannot, therefore, claim tragic stature or even our sympathy precisely because she is a rape victim. And while she becomes responsible for her own victimization, Stanley is left to glory in her rise born of the misogyny that colors the play..." (Lant 226). It is true that Blanche flirts briefly with Stanley early in the play, just as many women flirt playfully with their brothers-in-law. But as her relationship with Stanley deteriorates, she makes it quite obvious to him that she hates seeing him. While the world Lant lives in may be one in which a woman, jokingly sprinkles her brother-in-law... in the middle of a sheet of paper... endeavors to examine his work and pass judgment on it, Lant does not he managed to grasp the fact that Williams was simply portraying society as he saw it and experienced it, no holds barred. Works Cited Brownmiller, Susan. Against our will. New York: Bantam Books, 1975. Dworkin, Andrea. Relationship. New York: The Free Press, 1087Lant, Kathleen Margaret. “A Streetcar Named Misogyny.” pp. 225-238 in REDMOND.Redmond, James (ed.). Violence in drama. Cambridge University Press; 1991. Spoto, Donald. The kindness of strangers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1985.Williams, Edwina Dakin. Remember me to Tom. St. Louis: Sunrise Publishing Company, 1963. Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc: 1975. Williams, Tennessee. A tram called Desiderio. New York: Seal. Original copyright 1947.