Who is Strephon from the poem, The Lady’s Dressing Room?

Strephon is a young man who imagines himself to be in love with Celia. The nature of their relationship is unclear, but it is sufficient to allow him entry into her house. When he finds she is not there, however, he chooses to invade her privacy and look through her personal space. He is horrified to discover that she is not a perfect goddess, but a human woman, whose body produces smells, hair, dirt, and feces like any other person. Strephon is thus depicted as both a villain and a victim of society's gender roles. He has been brainwashed into a heroic image of heterosexual love, and collapses when he is forced to confront the impossibility of perfection in a woman.