She keeps her identity while all the women play out their phallic fantasies by dwelling on the events in the forest. The forest in this case represents the subconscious mind of the Puritan society because to them the forest is the place of the devil and witches. It is a free place where no one watches to report misbehaviors to the magistrates, so people do as they like, which is derived from the id, the sexual seat, as Freud would describe it. Hawthorne describes the forest as secret and somber, a temptation to the subconscious mind of Hester Prynne. .
"It straggled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest. This hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester's mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering."" (89 ).
The forest in this case, is a really good symbol for the obscurity and mysterious nature of the subconscious. Just like the forest, the subconscious mind is dark, secretive, and extremely private. The thoughts of the subconscious mind, the id, are forbidden to the Puritan's moral standards just as the things that go on in the forest are forbidden as well. However, the forest to Hester is like a lolly-pop to small child's eyes.
The rumors and accusations fly about the happenings of a group of women in the forest. Actually, those rumors are the Puritans' repressed sexual fantasies of being taken by strange wonderful lovers. While Hester is actually acting upon her id, their subconscious minds project identical desires. The only difference is that Hester acts upon her desires because she has the opportunity to do so, and lacks satisfaction because of the absence of her husband. Since the Puritan woman share the same desires as Hester does subconsciously, they too would probably give in to their id if they were under the same circumstances as Hester.