Frank Wedekind created Lulu, the character later featured in Pandora’s Box films.
The character appears most famously in Wedekind’s plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. These dramas examine Lulu’s relationships, sexuality, social power, and eventual downfall. G. W. Pabst adapted the two plays into the 1929 silent film Pandora’s Box, with Louise Brooks playing the title role.
Wedekind was a German playwright, actor, and cabaret performer. His work often challenged conventional morality and theatrical censorship, which made Lulu a controversial figure when the plays were first staged. The character is not Pandora from Greek mythology; instead, the film borrows the mythological title to suggest that Lulu’s presence unleashes disastrous consequences.
This distinction explains a common mix-up. Hesiod’s Pandora belongs to ancient Greek poetry, while Lulu belongs to German modernist drama. Their connection comes through the title and symbolic idea of consequences, not through the characters’ identities or original stories.