Literature employs the word “charlatan” to evoke images of deceit, pretense, and moral duplicity. It is often used to denounce individuals seen as fraudulent or dangerously unscrupulous—for instance, Turgenev’s narrator expresses outright disdain by calling a character a charlatan [1], while in heroic narratives, figures are dismissed as swindlers masquerading under respectable guises [2]. The term can also take on a poetic nuance, as when it describes a fleeting, illusory crown symbolizing transient power [3] or when it underscores the inherent, if undesirable, element of self-deception within human ambition [4, 5]. Moreover, its application ranges from literal indictments of quacks and mountebanks to broader metaphoric uses that question authenticity in various societal roles.