Do you remember Shep Huntleigh?… Of course you remember Shep Huntleigh. I went out with him at college and wore his pin for a while… I ran into him on Biscayne Boulevard, on Christmas Eve, about dusk… getting into his car – Cadillac convertible; must have been a block long!… You’ve heard of oil-wells?… He has them, all over Texas. Texas is literally spouting gold in his pockets.
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 4. Blanche, speaking to Stella, claims to have ran into an old college boyfriend during her Christmas trip to Miami. Her recollection and resurrection of the oil-rich Shep Huntleigh reflects Blanche’s materialism and her need for a man to rescue and take care of her. Shep, who never appears in the play, is also a symbol of Blanche’s world of fantasy. We never know if he is a real person or an imaginary friend that Blanche has conjured up.