The overall purpose of this paper is to explore August Strindberg's depicition of heterosexual love. The specific aim is to examine a certain type of love, which is idealised but ephemeral, in relation to a recurring character in Strindberg's writings: the girlish woman. The paper focuses on The Defence of a Madman and poses these questions: How is the girlish woman depicted? How is she related to the aforementioned type of love? The theoretical point of departure for the paper is queer theory focussing on temporality. The girlish woman is connected to that, which I call impossible heterosexual love. This type of love is idealised but does not have a future. She is connected to a certain fantasy of romantic love, which cannot last. Thus, she becomes a monster in the eyes of the male protagonist.