Gogol has all the names that speak; The surname "Khlestakov" is no exception. What does this surname hide, what does it tell readers first of all? The surname "Khlestakov" comes from the verb "lash", i.e. to be dominant, to control someone. On the other hand, the frivolity of the character is implied.
After the "billboard" comes the article "characters and costumes (a note for the gentlemen of the actors)". There our first impression is confirmed. Khlestakov is a young man, an official from St. Petersburg, somewhat stupid (without a king in his head), speaks and acts without any consideration, his speech is jerky, flies out of his mouth unexpectedly. All this is sure to be confirmed in the play - one way or another.
For the first time, Khlestakov appears before us in the second act and appearance. But even from the first act of the third phenomenon, important details about Khlestakov are learned, thanks, of course, to the two gossips themselves (Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky), and the details are as follows: an official from St. Petersburg (we already knew this), who is going to the Saratov province, behaves strangely (certifies): he lives in a tavern for another week, does not intend to leave, takes everything to the account and does not want to pay a penny. Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky, in turn, heard about this from the innkeeper Vlas. After that, both officials realized and gave Khlestakov for the Inspector to the mayor and friends in the service.
FRAGMENT FROM THE PLAY.
CITY MAN (IN FEAR). What are you, God be with you, it's not him.
DOBCHINSKY. He! and does not pay money, and does not go. Who should be if not him? ...
Monologue of Osip. It is here that we learn that Khlestakov is not the Inspector General; moreover, an official of the lower class (the registrar is a civil rank of the XIV class), poor in material terms (and not particularly rich in spirituality), plays cards, does not engage in business, i.e. does not work.
After a little time (the mayor was going, he was driving), the mayor was in the room in all its glory (in a hat scratched with a saber) (only Khlestakov was in the room). The mayor stood for a minute, and then the conversation began. Almost immediately, Khlestakov begins to complain about the conditions of detention in the local tavern, namely, the not at all good quality of food. The mayor makes excuses, becomes shy, even trembles, speaks to the side (characterizes the mayor as vile). In this dialogue, Khlestakov is quite brave, invigorated (this, it seems to me, is due to the fact that Khlestakov was hungry, because, in fact, he knew that he was talking with a person who was higher in rank); one more detail: Khlestakov hinted at the minister, and this, of course, could not but frighten the mayor; it is after this that the mayor gives in and begins to make excuses (although he used to justify himself, but not so ardently), complain about life, refutes the slander about the beating of a non-commissioned officer's wife ... And in the end, the mayor finds no other way out than an offer of material help Khlestakov. He, of course, is happy and takes the money. Everything is like a stone from the soul (thinks the mayor). Further, the mayor dared, i.e. offered (somehow, embarrassedly) to live at home, to which Khlestakov could not refuse. After that, the mayor offers to visit charitable institutions, to which Khlestakov agrees, but the mayor, before going to charitable institutions with Khlestakov, writes a letter to his wife and daughter to prepare for the reception of the Inspector (ready to drink).
Khlestakov reappears, but already in the third act and the fifth appearance, together with a rather large company, in the mayor's house. In a conversation, we learn that Khlestakov was regaled without measure in a charitable institution, they gave him a drink, and he was glad (he was hungry). He has a desire to compose on the basis of satiety (this can be seen with an inconspicuous eye from a conversation, in particular with Anna Andreevna and Marya Antonovna). He poses in front of the ladies, claims that he is used to living in the world, talks about life in St. Petersburg, how he is there with the head of the department on one leg, how famous he is there, that everyone knows him there, how he was once confused with the commander-in-chief of the soldiers (how can He is as thin as straw. He actively talks about aspects of literature, about the creative life in this particular area: "... I am on the same footing with Pushkin ...". Passes off other people's literary works as his own. And he has a house in St. Petersburg, and a watermelon on the table for seven hundred rubles ... but I wanted to emphasize that he starts talking and this remains without the slightest attention (everyone is scared): "... How do you run up to the fourth floor ..." Yes, in In those days, lower-class officials lived on the fourth floor! The State Council is also afraid of him (hey, where enough!). Soon, at the end of a long story, Khlestakov leaves for the side.
Afterwards, the mayor’s house is crowded: Tyapkin-Lyapkin, Strawberry, the postmaster, Khlopov, Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky. The main purpose of the collection: "Who first enters the room and gives a bribe to the Inspector." The first judge on the way (according to Zemlyanika, the judge has no word, Cicero flew off his tongue - a strong argument!), And he copes perfectly. In general, it doesn’t matter further (then the postmaster, Strawberry, who never gave money, Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky). In the end, Khlestakov has more than a thousand rubles in his pocket.
Khlestakov writes a letter to Tryapichkin, so to speak, to brag about how he shod, circled all the officials around his finger, and received a lot of money, without doing anything special.
I skip the scene of "salary about everything to Khlestakov", we move on to another - a declaration of love to Marya Antonovna, Anna Andreevna, and, finally, a marriage proposal to Marya. Both ladies did not realize that Khlestakov loved strongly, for a long time - he could not, since (this can be seen) rushes from one extreme to another.
After Khlestakov leaves and says that he will arrive soon - but we know that this is nonsense.
Soon after this, a feast takes place in the mayor's house; The mayor rejoices especially, in view of the marriage of the so-called Inspector to his daughter, Marya Antonovna. The details of the feast do not interest us.
After some time, the postmaster runs in (with a printed letter) and reports that they were all deceived, and soon reads the letter. Officials learned a lot of interesting things about themselves.
THE CITY COURT IS STUPID AS A GRAY GELTING;
THE POSTMASTER IS EXACTLY THE DEPARTMENT GUARD MIKHEEV, SHOULD ALSO BE A SCALE, DRINKING BITTER;
THE OFFICER OF THE PLEASANT ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE STRAWBERRY IS THE PERFECT PIG IN YERMOLKA;
THE SUPERINTENDANT OF SCHOOLS IS ROTHER THROUGH WITH ONIONS;
JUDGE LYAPKIN-TYAPKIN IN THE STRONGEST DEGREE MOVETON.
CONCLUSION.
Khlestakov is "the most difficult character in the play." He, having become the culprit of universal deceit, did not deceive anyone. He successfully played the role of the Inspector, not only not intending to play it, but without even realizing that he was playing it. Only in the middle of the fourth act in Khlestakov's head vague guesses begin to dawn that he is being mistaken for a "state man."
But it is precisely in unintentionality that Khlestakov's "strength" ... He provoked all the cunning game of the mayor and officials not by cunning, but by sincerity.
Fear set the stage for deceit. Interestingly, Khlestakov does not have replicas "aside" - he has what is on his mind, then on his tongue.
Khlestakov is sincere in all cases. He invents with the same frankness with which he previously spoke the truth - and again the officials are deceived. This time they accept what was fiction as truth.
The image of Khlestakov is inexhaustible, fraught with stunning surprises. Khlestakov is "genius" in his exceptional lightness and "unspecified" fiction. Is this Khlestakov's deceit? But we know that he lies sincerely. Boastfulness? But he believes in what he says.
Involuntarily, you come to the conclusion that the most accurate and comprehensive definition will be made on behalf of the character himself - "Khlestakovshchina"
P.S.
The conclusion was written with the help of an article in the book by Yu.V. Mann "Poetics of Gogol".
Khlestakov is an "Elistratishka" from St. Petersburg, a typical representative of an official who turned around in departments and living rooms, bookstores and coffee houses. He saw some things, heard some things. The main thing in Khlestakov's life was money, rank, career and social life. But he did not manage to carry out all this, and he goes to the village. In Khlestakov’s head there is “unusual lightness in thoughts”, he is ready for any adventure: to show off, play cards, go on a spree. And then a convenient opportunity turns up - he is mistaken for an auditor. In the scene of lies, he reaches the top, although he lies constantly. And this is where the peculiarity of Gogol's comedy manifests itself: they do not believe the truth, but listen to lies with their mouths open. At first it seems to us that Khlestakov is naive, but this is not so. He simply accepts the circumstances in which he finds himself. It seems to us that Osip is telling the owner to “get off,” but Khlestakov also suspects something is wrong in the current situation: “It seems to me, however, that they take me for a statesman ... What a fool!” Showing off in front of Marya Antonovna, he almost blurted out: “Forgive me, madam, I am very pleased that you took me for such a person who ...”, but he catches himself in time so as not to bring trouble on himself. Khlestakov realized that he was mistaken for another, and willingly enters the role. He did not cheat the officials, they were deceived themselves.
Khlestakov's character is typical for many people. N.V. Gogol himself wrote: “Everyone, even for a minute ... is or was being made Khlestakov ... And a clever guards officer will sometimes turn out to be Khlestakov, and a statesman ..., and our brother, a sinful writer. In a word, rarely anyone will not be at least once in their life. Each character in the comedy has its own Khlestakovism: the dreaming Gorodnichiy, Shpekin, in the character of Osip.
We meet Khlestakov right away, in “Remarks for gentlemen actors”: “Khlestakov, a young man of about 23, thin, thin, somewhat stupid and, as they say, without a king in his head ... He speaks and acts without any consideration ... His speech is jerky , and the words fly out of his mouth completely unexpectedly ... Dressed in fashion.
Scene after scene reveals to us the vivid image of Khlestakov. He came to St. Petersburg from the Saratov province to succeed in the service. Having been in the anterooms of the nobility and dressed up a little, dressed in fashionable clothes from the capital, Khlestakov is forced to return home to his father, having squandered his parents' money and having achieved nothing in the service.
Khlestakov, according to Osip, "a simple Elistratishka." “The second month has gone, as already from St. Petersburg! Profited expensive money, my dear, now he sits and twisted his tail. He is a negligent son of a parent, he says about his father that he is "stubborn and stupid, old fuck, log." Khlestakov does not like to live in the village; he prefers metropolitan life. “My soul yearns for enlightenment,” “after all, you live on that to pick flowers of pleasure.”
In different cities, on the way home, he tries to show himself to be a man of the world, goes on a spree, loses his last money at cards, because. for him "it's tempting to play". And he remains in the city without funds, he faces a prison.
Long sitting in the hotel, fear of the arrival of the auditor and makes the officials, led by the mayor, see a state official in the passing "elistratishka".
Realizing that he is being mistaken for an important bird, Khlestakov "lets dust in." When he tells the truth, officials consider it a lie, and when Khlestakov lies, they take his words for the truth.
Khlestakov lies in such a way that he himself believes in the ardor of what was said and cannot stop. But he's not as stupid as he first appears. He understands that he was mistaken for a government official, and tries to get the most out of this for himself: he extorts money, takes bribes, drags himself behind the daughter and wife of the mayor.
When he realizes that it is time to end this game, which Osip asks him to do, he sends a letter to his friend Tryapichkin in St. Petersburg, where he very accurately characterizes all the officials of the city. He is ungrateful, forgets about money, receptions, dinners and benefactors, writes that “the mayor is stupid, like a gray gelding”, “Strawberry is a perfect pig in a yarmulke”, etc.
The comedy The Inspector General, written in the first half of the 19th century, has not lost its significance to this day. Still living among us mayors, postmasters and other heroes, similar in their features to the heroes of a comedy. There are Khlestakovs among us. No wonder they say: he's lying like Khlestakov. Khlestakov is the image of an empty, worthless person, incapable of doing anything good for society. He loves to be shown "loyalty and respect" without giving anything in return.
Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov - the main character of the comedy N.V. Gogol's "Inspector". This is a young twenty-three-year-old man, slender and thin, superficial, without a clear idea of \u200b\u200bhis place in life. According to the author, those around them consider them empty shells, because they are not able to answer either for their words or for their actions.
Khlestakov lost a large amount of money. For lack of funds, he huddles in a modest hotel room in the provincial town N. He has no food and clean clothes. Here the mayor discovers him, thinking that he is actually an auditor, incognito located in the city.
In Khlestakov, Gogol reveals the image of a "little man" who understands his insignificance in the world. He holds the position of adviser in the office, receives a modest salary. But in his thoughts, dreams, he sees himself as a significant person, who is worshiped, who lives beautifully, who is adored by women, running after him. But such a life is not destined for him.
It is impossible not to note the ability of Ivan Alexandrovich to lie and fantasize talentedly and incessantly. His frivolity and superficial thinking give the impression of a man "without a king in his head." He is not able to see the consequences of his actions, so he easily enters into an adventure with a false auditor. He is not embarrassed by deceit, he constantly lies about himself, inventing new incredible facts from his "luxurious" life. He claims that on the streets everyone recognizes him, that sometimes they take him for a general.
The most amazing thing is that he himself begins to believe in his stupid fantasies. He imagines himself a great writer, commander-in-chief, public figure, close to the emperor, almost the sovereign himself.
Feeling no remorse, Khlestakov borrows money from officials, realizing that he will not be able to return it. His moral upbringing allows him to take care of two women at once - the wife and young daughter of the mayor himself. Moreover, he swears eternal love to both of them, quoting Karamzin, convinces them of the absence of boundaries for a great feeling.
Having crossed all the boundaries of what is permitted, Khlestakov, by sheer chance, leaves the city. This accident is happy for Ivan Alexandrovich, because a real auditor will soon be announced in the city. The mayor and all the officials of the city of N will find out that they have warmed up the deceiver. But most of all they worry about the fact that Khlestakov will now tell everyone about their shame.
In the image of Khlestakov N.V. Gogol presented us with such a concept, typical for Russia of that time, as “Khlestakovism”. Although, in my opinion, this phenomenon is relevant to this day. And today we can meet people covered with an aura of lies, fantasy, frivolity, superficiality and stupidity. The worst thing about them is that they seek to impersonate those who they are not, thereby showing an extreme degree of irresponsibility.
Ivan Khlestakov is one of the main characters in Gogol's comedy. Thanks to his image, the author managed to show us life in a past era, when a person is judged in a country not by his qualities and services to the Fatherland, but by his position. Now we will try to describe in the image of Khlestakov, the main character, who became a creative success for the writer.
Khlestakov Ivan is a controversial and ambiguous hero, whose image turned out to be very successful and accurate. On the one hand, Khlestakov can hardly be called a fraudster, because he is not specifically called an auditor, but only took the opportunity. But on the other hand, an honest person would never do this and would immediately refute the erroneous opinion. But no, because of the mistake of the highest county authorities, because of local cowardly swindlers and thieves, a vile nature was released, which immediately cleared up. And the excitement kicked in. Therefore, the hero is completely immersed in the role assigned to him. Another prudent person in his place would have benefited and immediately left, especially if they begin to suspect him of deceit, but this is not about Khlestakov, who was passionate in life and played to the last, squandering all his fortune.
The author describes him as a petty person, an insignificant low-ranking official. This is a poor guy of twenty-four years old, who could lose even the insignificant fortune that he had. writes that this is a stupid person, without a king in his head. He wanted to try his luck in the capital, but failed. On the way home, he lost all the money and he has to live in a certain town, where they are just waiting for the arrival of the auditor. Khlestakov and took him for him. And he quickly began to play along, especially since he always wanted to be a significant person.
Khlestakov is a dreamer, a deceitful person who thinks superficially and does not think about the consequences. Having played the auditor, Ivan lies about himself, inventing unprecedented stories. In his stories, he embodies his dreams, giving them a certain reality. He does this with such conviction that even the highly experienced mayor did not see through the false auditor and believes him to the end. And Ivan himself believes in his lie.
The hero is a master of lies, who without a twinge of conscience takes money from everyone, promising to return everything. This is a person who can simultaneously take care of his daughter and her mother, and it is not known how the whole story would have ended if Khlestakov had not left before the deception was revealed.
The image of Khlestakov and the hero of comedy are the founder of Khlestakovism, which personifies frivolity, stupidity, lies, laxity, the desire to impersonate another.
The key figure and vivid image in Gogol's work is the image of Khlestakov, who in itself was a worthless person, an ordinary typical little man. By chance, when he lost in the capital and was driving home, Khlestakov finds himself in a town where officials take him for an important auditor. And here his life turns into a fairy tale, which Khlestakov always dreamed of. Now he is interesting to everyone, everyone wants to see him at home, and they tremble before his person. And here the true image of Khlestakov begins to be revealed in the comedy The Inspector General, about which we are writing our essay.
In order to more plausibly describe the main character in an essay on the topic, we suggest referring to quotes from the work. And we meet, as the author writes, a young twenty-three-year-old man, thin, thin, slightly stupid. According to the mayor, he is so unprepossessing that he would have crushed with a fingernail. a poor nobleman who serves in St. Petersburg, holding the position of a registrar. He treats work carelessly, so he can skip it, but card games have always been mandatory.
Khlestakov is always combed, dressed stylishly, knows how to present himself, respects ranks, honors people from high society and despises people of low class.
He is a good actor, so he quickly gets used to the role of the auditor, as if he had been waiting for this all his life. The false auditor, having become an important person, immediately attributed to himself talents that he never had. He boasted of his connections, had conversations, and without a twinge of conscience asked for money from officials. In the successfully invented image of Khlestakov, Gogol ridiculed the vices of officials and their obscene qualities.
What kind of life does our Khlestakov lead? From the work of Gogol, we see a nobleman, a landowner, who lives in a modest apartment and occupies an insignificant post, earning little money. Khlestakov leads life beyond his means, travels to theaters, plays cards, takes money from his parents, and constantly dreams of a different life, which he observes from the outside. And how I would like to become a significant person, to feel constant attention from the ladies. He dreams of being mistaken for the commander-in-chief, so the incident in a small town became for Khlestakov like a fairy tale, which he dreamed of all his life, and by chance came true.
In general, Khlestakov's lifestyle is worthless, frivolous, and does not bring any benefit to society. His whole life is made up of accidents.
While working on the essay, I would like to briefly dwell on the character of Khlestakov. This is a frivolous, irresponsible, lazy person who does not like to work. He does not seek to grow in the service, a spender, a liar, a windy playboy, who, incidentally, was an excellent actor. His only natural gift is luck, thanks to which Khlestakov managed to leave the city on time, while not forgetting to give exact characteristics in a letter to each of the officials of a small county town.
Having studied the comedy The Government Inspector, we see how important the image of Khlestakov is in Gogol's work. Here Khlestakov not only personifies deceit and hypocrisy, and shows the spiritual emptiness that was characteristic of many of the author's contemporaries, but is also a tool through which the vices of officials are revealed. At the same time, the hero reveals them unconsciously. Without noticing it, he brought the officials to clean water, so the value of his image in comedy is priceless.
The meaning of Khlestakov's image is quite clear. Through the image of the main character, the author wanted to ridicule the vices of society and draw the viewer's attention to the existing problems that people face. What is most interesting, the Khlestakovs can be easily found among us, so the question of whether the image of Khlestakov is relevant in our time can be answered positively. To confirm this, it is enough to remember who Khlestakov is.
He is a liar, enjoys using his parents' money, loves fashionable clothes, but at the same time does not want to work and earn money. Now take a look around. Almost all people lie for their own benefit. And how many children are around who are happy to live at the expense of their parents? A lot of them. They are accustomed to getting all the best without much work. Look around you, see how many people pretend to be someone they are not!
All this certainly emphasizes the relevance of the image of Khlestakov in our days.
The image of Khlestakov based on Gogol's comedy "The Government Inspector" - an essay
5 (100%) 2 votesLaughter is often the great mediator
in distinguishing truth from falsehood...
V. G. Belinsky
Khlestakov is the main character in N. V. Gogol's comedy The Inspector General (1836). He is not only the central figure of the comedic action, but also represents a typical character. “Everyone, even for a minute, if not for a few minutes,” said Gogol, “became or is becoming Khlestakov .... And a dexterous officer of the guards will sometimes turn out to be Khlestakov, and a statesman ... and our brother is a writer ... "It is this hero who most fully expresses the combination of extreme ambition and spiritual insignificance, arrogance and narcissism, which was characteristic of high-ranking officials. By mistake, Khlestakov became the personification of a high-ranking official-auditor, but by mistake it was natural. His resemblance to the messenger of the "tops" was amazing, which is why he misled such an experienced person as the mayor, and all his entourage.
The mayor did not notice any differences in Khlestakov from those numerous auditors and high-ranking persons with whom he had met before. Of course, fear eclipsed his eyes and mind, but he certainly experienced the same fear during other visits of "big" people. Consequently, the point here is not only fear, but also the fact that Khlestakov could really be mistaken for an auditor.
It was no coincidence that Gogol brought to the stage in the role of an imaginary auditor a person living in St. Petersburg and serving in the department. Khlestakov was born of bureaucratic-aristocratic Petersburg, He absorbed, like a sponge, all those negative phenomena that filled the capital's society.
The son of a poor Saratov landowner, Khlestaov, serving in the department as a petty official (“Elistratishka”), wants to live on a grand scale, indulge in entertainment, diligently imitating secular dandies, and pick flowers of pleasure. “Batiushka will send money, with what to hold it - and where! .. He went to party ... instead of taking office, and he goes for a walk along the avenue, playing cards,” the servant Osip says about him.
Insignificant both in origin and position, Khlestakov should play the role of a respectable official. The main qualities of the character of this character are irresponsibility and bragging. Having squandered all the money and spent a lot of money on the road, he, nevertheless, imagines how nice it would be to drive up to the house in a chic carriage, and dress Osip's servant in livery, and how everyone would be drawn to attention only at the mere mention of his name - Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov from St. Petersburg.
Even courting a tavern servant, begging for dinner from him, Khlestakov behaves arrogantly. Without paying anything for a hotel, he makes claims to the owner, who does not want to understand that he is not an ordinary person: “You explain to him seriously that I need to eat. .. He thinks that like him, a peasant, it’s okay if he doesn’t eat for a day, and so do others. News!" Having hardly obtained an extension of the loan from the owner of the hotel, he begins to behave even more impudently: he does not like the food, and all around are swindlers and thieves.
The militant fervor of Khlestakov fades away as soon as he learns of the arrival of the mayor. He fears that the head of the city will send him directly to prison. However, the timidity of the mayor in front of the imaginary auditor strengthens Khlestakov's arrogance: “What right do you have? How dare you? Yes, here I am ... I serve in St. Petersburg ... "He suddenly realizes that Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky is not going to put him in prison, but, on the contrary, intends to render him all sorts of services, mistaking him for a "high-flying bird."
The image of the mayor gets its brilliant completion in the fifth act of the comedy. And here Gogol uses the principle of abrupt switching, moving from the defeat of the hero to his triumph, and then from triumph to the debunking of the hero. In an atmosphere of universal admiration, Khlestakov literally blossoms. In the third act of the comedy, he is shown in the minutes of his takeoff. With rapture, Khlestakov draws pictures of his imaginary life in front of shocked listeners. He does not lie for any clear motive or clear purpose. Ease in thoughts does not allow him to make serious calculations regarding the consequences of his actions. He lies out of empty vanity, lies to boast of his “high” position, lies because he is in the grip of his fantasy. He reveals to the heroes of the comedy and to the audience his dream, which he would like to achieve, but he himself passes it off as reality.
Khlestakov has already made everyone believe that he is an important person, and therefore he takes a warm welcome for granted. At first, he does not realize that he is mistaken for some important person. After the officials began to supply him with money, he began to realize that he was being mistaken for another person. However, this does not prevent Khlestakov from still experiencing pleasure from everything that happens.
In the fourth act of the comedy, Gogol shows how Khlestakov organizes a collection of money, receives offerings from officials and merchants, and sorts out the complaints of the townspeople. Nothing bothers Khlestakov: he feels neither fear nor remorse. Apparently, for this person it is not difficult to commit any meanness, any deceit. Without a shadow of embarrassment, he performs the functions of an important official and is ready to thoughtlessly decide the fate of people.
With extraordinary ease, Khlestakov switches from the "state" sphere to the lyrical plane. As soon as the visitors have disappeared from his field of vision, he immediately forgets about them. The arrival of Marya Antonovna immediately sets Khlestakov in a romantic mood. And here he acts, not realizing where his events will lead, the "Lyrical" scenes reveal the character of the hero from a new side. In explanations with Marya Antonovna and Anna Andreevna, Khlestakov appears as a person who uses a miserable set of vulgar tricks, banal sayings. The hero's love explanations emphasize his lack of living human feelings.
No wonder Gogol, giving instructions on how to play his hero, emphasized that he should turn out to be a liar, a coward and a clicker in every respect.
The objective meaning and significance of this image lies in the fact that it is an indissoluble unity of "significance" and insignificance, huge claims and inner emptiness.
It is also very significant that the image of Khlestakov is in close contact with the images of other heroes of the play. Khlestakov's qualities are also found in the mayor, Zemlyaika, and Lyapkin-Tyapkin. They are expressed in the complete absence of moral principles, in exorbitant claims, in the desire to play the role of a person with a rank higher than one's own, in the ability to commit any meanness.
I. S. Turgenev saw in the image of Khlestakov "the triumph of poetic truth." He said that "... the name of Khlestakov loses its randomness and becomes a household name." Khlestakovism is a manifestation of arrogance, frivolity, inner emptiness, irresponsibility and deceit. This phenomenon has acquired a broad social and psychological meaning. The image of Khlestakov belongs to the number of such - found and guessed phenomena of life.
