# Miss Bürstner — The Trial character guide

> Miss Bürstner in The Trial by Franz Kafka.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Bürstner Someone

**First appearance:** 0001-chapter-one-arrest-conversation-with-mrs-grubach-then-miss-b-rstner

## Snapshot

A lodger across the hall from Josef K., whose ordinary comings and goings become, for him, a reproach he cannot stop measuring himself against.

## Who they are

Miss Bürstner is a young woman with her own work and her own life, briefly drawn into K.'s orbit by a late-night conversation at Mrs. Grubach's boarding house. She is polite, a little guarded, and clearly not interested in becoming a party to whatever is happening to him. Her importance lies in what she represents rather than what she does: an ordinary, unarrested existence that K. keeps glimpsing and losing, and the quiet shame of being seen in his new condition.

## Relationships

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_romantic_

Josef K. is infatuated with Miss Bürstner and attempts to initiate a romantic relationship, but she remains distant and ambivalent.

### [Mrs. Grubach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/mrs_grubach)

_social_

Miss Bürstner is a lodger in Mrs. Grubach's boarding house, and their relationship is that of tenant and landlady with polite but distant interactions.

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_romantic_

Josef K. is infatuated with Miss Bürstner and attempts to initiate a romantic relationship, but she remains distant and ambivalent.

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_romantic_

Josef K. is infatuated with Miss Bürstner and attempts to initiate a romantic relationship, but she remains distant and ambivalent.

### [Mrs. Grubach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/mrs_grubach)

_social_

Miss Bürstner is a lodger in Mrs. Grubach's boarding house, and their relationship is that of tenant and landlady with polite but distant interactions.

### [Mrs. Grubach](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/mrs_grubach)

_social_

Miss Bürstner is a lodger in Mrs. Grubach's boarding house, and their relationship is that of tenant and landlady with polite but distant interactions.

## In the story

### [THE TRIAL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/chapters/the-trial-franz-kafka)

A fellow boarder who becomes involved in K.'s case.

### [Chapter One Arrest—Conversation with Mrs. Grubach—Then Miss Bürstner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/chapters/chapter-one-arrest-conversation-with-mrs-grubach-then-miss-b-rstner)

A fellow lodger; listens to K.'s account of the arrest and allows him to reenact it, but becomes anxious when they are overheard.

### [Chapter Four: Miss Bürstner's Friend](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/chapters/chapter-four-miss-b-rstner-s-friend)

Avoids K. entirely and allows Miss Montag to move into her room.

### [Chapter Ten: End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/chapters/chapter-ten-end)

A woman resembling Miss Bürstner appears briefly in the square, prompting K. to abandon resistance.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/miss_buerstner
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters