  Energy spectra and angular distributions have been measured of electrons that
are emitted upon disassembly of $Xe_{150000}$ following irradiation by intense
(10$^{15}-10^{16}$ W cm$^{-2}$) laser pulses whose durations are varied over
the 100-2200 fs range. The cluster explosion dynamics occur in the hydrodynamic
regime. Electron emission is found to be unexpectedly asymmetric and exhibits a
resonance when the laser pulse duration is $\sim$1 ps. These results are
rationalized by extending the hydrodynamic model to also take into account the
force that the light field exerts on the polarization charge that is induced on
surface of the cluster. We show that the magnitude of this electrostrictive
force is comparable to those of Coulombic and the hydrodynamic forces, and it
exhibits resonance behavior. Contrary to earlier understanding, we find that
low-energy electrons are connected to the resonance in energy absorption by the
cluster. The high-energy electrons seem to be produced by a mechanism that is
not so strongly influenced by the resonance.
