I have tried to demonstrate that, although forepleasure is primarily devoted to the various pregenital instinctual components, zones and aims, it is also frequently used for important defensive purposes. Forepleasure offers an excellent opportunity to study the direct results of the mechanisms of defense and also many of the ego's more complex defensive measures in action. It is particularly striking how frequently people use forepleasure activities to enact and act out a fantasy which has the purpose of denying or counteracting some frightening aspect of sexuality. Indulging in fantasies seems to have the over-all purpose of distracting the individual from the sexual act in which he is engaged. There seems to be an antagonistic relationship between the amount of fantasy in forepleasure and the object relationship. The greater the amount of fantasy, the less the object and the self is cathected in forepleasure. All of these considerations seem to point to the fact that forepleasure is often not just pleasure but also a serious matter.