Frank Wedekind wrote the dramas Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box, which formed the basis of G. W. Pabst’s 1929 film Pandora’s Box. Wedekind was a German playwright whose work frequently challenged conventional morality and social respectability.
The two plays focus on Lulu, a central figure whose relationships expose hypocrisy, desire, power, and violence. Pabst adapted their material into a silent film starring Louise Brooks, while changing and compressing elements to suit cinema.
Wedekind’s Lulu plays are often discussed together because Earth Spirit introduces the character and Pandora’s Box continues her story. The title Pandora’s Box connects the modern drama with the ancient myth, but Lulu is not the same figure as Hesiod’s Pandora.
Frank Wedekind’s name is sometimes misspelled or confused with other German dramatists of the period. The standard English spelling is Frank Wedekind, and his dates were 1864–1918.