Which two Frank Wedekind plays provide the source material for the 1929 film Pandora’s Box?

The 1929 film Pandora’s Box draws its source material from Frank Wedekind’s two Lulu plays, Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Georg Wilhelm Pabst adapted the plays into a silent film centered on Lulu, played by Louise Brooks.

Wedekind’s Lulu cycle examines sexuality, social hypocrisy, power, and exploitation through its controversial central character. Earth Spirit, first performed in the late nineteenth century, introduces Lulu’s destructive relationships, while Pandora’s Box continues her story toward its tragic conclusion.

Pabst’s film is not a literal filmed stage production. It reshapes the dramatic material for cinema, using editing, composition, performance, and location work to create a distinct visual style. The film’s title comes from the second play and also invokes the ancient Greek myth.

The plays are sometimes confused with unrelated works by Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, or Anton Chekhov because Lulu’s story has often been discussed alongside major European drama. Its direct literary source, however, is Wedekind’s Lulu pair.