Who is Khlestakov in The Inspector General?

Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov is a young government clerk traveling with servant Osip, stuck at an inn because he lost at cards. Hearing officials panic about an incognito inspector, he lets them believe he holds that rank and accepts money, hospitality, and engagement to the mayor’s daughter. He is not a mastermind — he improvises, bluffs, and flees when bored.

Khlestakov embodies mistaken identity and social climbing: his lies work because listeners need him to be powerful. Gogol makes him silly, not heroic; satire targets the believers more than the liar. Students should list his wildest claims and match each to an official’s guilty flattery.