Frank Wedekind created Lulu, the central character later played by Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box.
Lulu first appeared in Wedekind’s stage dramas Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. These plays portray her as a powerful and controversial figure whose relationships expose hypocrisy, desire, class expectations, and social control.
G. W. Pabst’s 1929 film combines material from both dramas. Louise Brooks’s performance as Lulu became the most internationally famous screen interpretation of the character, but the role itself originated in Wedekind’s theater rather than being invented for the film.
Wedekind was a German playwright and cabaret performer associated with theatrical works that challenged conventional morality. His Lulu plays were controversial because of their frank treatment of sexuality and their refusal to present the heroine in simple moral terms. The title Pandora’s Box therefore connects both the ancient myth and Wedekind’s modern dramatic world, while Lulu remains a distinct fictional character.