2/24/17
Dr. Alexander
Book review
The Burgermeister’s Daughter The Burgermeister’s Daughter written by Steven Ozment is quoted “The litigious Anna fought endless battles to regain her alienated fortune, leaving behind a legal trail that has enabled Ozment to reconstruct sixteenth-century German society in rare detail-a task he carries out with even rarer grace – The New Yorker.” Ozment describes perfectly the life of young Anna and he also includes many other intriguing things that display important elements of German society. This extra information really provides the frame work to the story allowing the reader to see where the struggles are coming from. Women have always had disadvantages in life and this book thoroughly explains …show more content…
Both in her late teens and twenties, she had behaved in a manner scandalous to the society in which she lived. Her story is one of multiple collapsing relationships: between a daughter and a father, a sister and her siblings, a servant and her mistress, a woman and her lovers, a citizen and her town. Twice, in original and unforgettable ways, she brought shame and embarrassment to her family and the city of Hall: the first time, when she deceived her father and incurred his undying wrath, the second, twenty years later, when she defied the city council and provoked its retaliation (Burgermeisters daughter, 2). This provides lots of great information including actual court cases to support the plot line against the actual case. Women during this time frame were considered to be more like property then actual people even though things were changing it was not changing fast enough to make a difference. As verified be the book “Anna had faced many difficulties, particularly the fact that as an unprofessional single woman, she needed a male to represent her in court (Burgermeisters Daughter, 111).” Anna was aloud some rights though that is how she was able to even have a chance at court. Even though Anna made some ground for women in the eyes of many people her case was not all positive. Having a …show more content…
Anna while she did not get what she ultimately wanted from her father she was successful in creating uproar to the motion of women’s rights. Germany in its advancements has allowed the world for the time frame try and keeps up. The author was able to portray the story in a way that gives great information and a look into Germany in the 16th Century. Women no matter what time frame it is will always have a disadvantage when compared to men. While that is not fair I guess that we all just have to keep fighting to ultimately get where everyone in the world is equal. This book really portrays the struggle that Anna faces but it is extremely dry and hard to read so I would not recommend this book to