摘要
This paper attempts to demonstrate Hester Prynne＇s, in Nathaniel Hawthorne＇s romantic work of fiction The Scarlet Letter （1994）, sublimation of her sexual impulses into identifying with the socially acceptable humanitarian actions, and societal demands in order to avoid the confrontation with the scorn of the people of Boston, her sexual urge, and with her weakness. Hester＇s libidinal energy was channeled into socially approved activities in her self-devoted years that made up her identity and reality. The scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which once attracted the world＇s scorn and bitterness, later looked upon with reverence, and transformed into a thing to be sorrowed over. She had not ignored a large part of reality of her life （the past and present）. If she ignored her past she would entirely detach it from the present. She integrated her stigma into her life in the continual process of self-making, and thereby projecting herself into the future
