Frank Wedekind created Lulu, the central character later featured in the film Pandora’s Box.
Wedekind was a German playwright whose Lulu appears in the plays Erdgeist, first published in 1895, and Die Büchse der Pandora, published in 1904. The two works form the dramatic basis for G. W. Pabst’s 1929 film.
Lulu is not a direct adaptation of the mythological Pandora. Wedekind used the Pandora image as a symbolic framework for a modern drama about sexuality, power, social hypocrisy, and destructive desire. The film retained the title and character but reshaped the story for silent cinema.
The character is sometimes credited to Pabst or Louise Brooks because their film version made Lulu famous internationally. Pabst directed the adaptation and Brooks played the role, but Wedekind originated Lulu in the theater.