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{{short description|German playwright (1864–1918)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frank Wedekind
| image = Frank Wedekind.jpg
| alt = Frank Wedekind
| caption =
| birth_name = Benjamin Franklin Wedekind
| birth_date = {{birth date|1864|07|24}}
| birth_place = [[Hanover]], [[German Confederation]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1918|03|09|1864|07|24}}
| death_place = [[Munich]], [[German Empire]]
| occupation = [[Playwright]]
| family = {{ill|Wedekind zur Horst|de}}
| signature = 2018-07-18 Sterne der Satire - Walk of Fame des Kabaretts Nr 51 Frank Wedekind-1131 (cropped).jpg
| relatives = [[Erika Wedekind]] (sister)
}}
[[File:BerlinerLeben-1910 Wedekind-Frank-Tilly.jpg|thumb|Wedekind and his wife Tilly, 1910]]

'''Benjamin Franklin Wedekind''' (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German [[playwright]]. His work, which often criticizes [[bourgeois]] attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate [[expressionism]] and was influential in the development of [[Epic theater|epic theatre]].<ref name="express">See Banham (1998) and Willett (1959). In his ''[[Messingkauf Dialogues]]'', Brecht cites Wedekind, along with [[Georg Büchner|Büchner]] and [[Karl Valentin|Valentin]], as his "chief influences" in his early years: "he", Brecht writes of himself in the third person, "also saw the writer ''Wedekind'' performing his own works in a style which he had developed in cabaret. Wedekind had worked as a [[ballad]] singer; he accompanied himself on the [[lute]]." (1965, 69).</ref>

In the English-speaking world, before 2006 Wedekind was best known for the "Lulu" cycle, a two-play series—''[[Earth Spirit (play)|Erdgeist]]'' (''Earth Spirit'', 1895) and ''[[Pandora's Box (play)|Die Büchse der Pandora]]'' (''Pandora's Box'', 1904)—centered on a young dancer/adventuress of mysterious origin. In 2006 his earlier play ''[[Spring Awakening (play)|Frühlings Erwachen]]'' (''Spring Awakening'', 1891) became well known because of a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical adaptation.

==Life and career==
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind was born on July 24, 1864, in [[Hanover]], [[German Confederation]], Große Aegidienstraße 13 (today: Friedrichswall 10). His mother was Swiss and became pregnant with him in [[San Francisco]]. His father, a German, had a Swiss castle in which Wedekind grew up, after the family had left Hanover in 1872. Until [[World War I]], when he was forced to obtain a German passport, he was an American citizen and traveled throughout Europe.<ref name="Simon">{{cite news|first=John |last=Simon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/books/how-sex-killed-frank-wedekind.html?pagewanted=all |title=How Sex Killed Frank Wedekind |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=1990-11-18 |access-date=2014-08-11}}</ref> He lived most of his adult life in [[Munich]], though he had a brief period working in advertising, for the [[Maggi]] soup firm, in Switzerland in 1886.<ref name="soup">Willett (1959, 98n).</ref>

[[File:FrankWedekind1883.JPG|thumb|Wedekind in 1883]]

Having worked in business and the circus, Wedekind went on to become an actor and singer. In this capacity, he received wide acclaim as the principal star of the [[satirical]] cabaret ''{{ill|Die elf Scharfrichter|de}}'' ("The Eleven Executioners"), launched in 1901.<ref name="cabaret">See Banham (1998) and Willett (1959, 87)</ref> Wedekind became an important influence on the tradition of German satirical writing for the theatre, paving the way for the cabaret-song satirists [[Kurt Tucholsky]], [[Walter Mehring]], [[Joachim Ringelnatz]] and [[Erich Kästner]] among others, who after Wedekind's death would invigorate the culture of the [[Weimar Republic]]; "all bitter social critics who used direct, stinging satire as the best means of attack and wrote a large part of their always intelligible light verse to be declaimed or sung".<ref name="cabaret2">Willett (1959, 87).</ref> At the age of 34, after serving a nine-month prison sentence ({{lang|de|[[Festungshaft]]}}) for ''[[Lèse majesté|lèse-majesté]]'' (thanks to the publication in ''[[Simplicissimus]]'' of some of his satirical poems), Wedekind became a [[Dramaturge|dramaturg]] (a play-reader and adapter) at the [[Munich Kammerspiele|Munich Schauspielhaus]].<ref name="dramaturg">Willett (1959, 87, 106).</ref>

His sex life was promiscuous and he frequented prostitutes, contracting [[syphilis]]. He also enjoyed the pleasure of platonic female company and kept his tendencies toward [[homosexuality]] and [[Sadomasochism|sadism]] in check.<ref name="Simon" /> He had an affair with [[Frida Uhl]], the wife of playwright [[August Strindberg]], who bore him a child, the Swedish-Austrian journalist and author [[Friedrich Strindberg]].<ref>Meyer, Michael. ''Strindberg: A Biography'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 363.</ref> In 1906, he married the Austrian actress Tilly Newes, 22 years his junior and became strictly monogamous. His relationship with his wife was turbulent: Wedekind was prone to jealousy and felt pressure to maintain strenuous creative and sexual activity in order to please her. They had two daughters, Pamela and Kadidja,<ref name="imdb.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1361159/bio|title=Tilly Wedekind|website=IMDb}}</ref> but his jealousy led his wife to attempt both separation and suicide.<ref name="Simon" />

Near the end of his life, Wedekind underwent an [[appendectomy]] and immediately began acting again, leading to a [[hernia]]. His doctor refused to operate immediately, but Wedekind insisted; and complications from the surgery led to his death at the age of 53 on March 9, 1918.<ref name="Simon" />

Tilly Wedekind went on to appear in such films as ''[[Travelling People (film)|Travelling People]]'' and was romantically linked to the author [[Gottfried Benn]].<ref name="imdb.com"/> In 1969, at age 83, she published an autobiography in German, ''Lulu: Die Rolle meines Lebens'' ("Lulu: The Role of My Life").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-45440083.html |title=DER SPIEGEL 47/1969 - Ehe und Atlas |publisher=Spiegel.de |date=1969-11-17 |access-date=2014-08-11}}</ref>

==Works==

Wedekind's first major play, ''[[Spring Awakening (play)|Frühlings Erwachen]]'' (''Spring Awakening'', 1891), which concerns sexuality and puberty among some young German students, caused a scandal, because it contained scenes of [[homoeroticism]], implied group male masturbation, actual male masturbation, [[sado-masochism]] between a teenage boy and girl, [[rape]] and [[suicide]], as well as references to [[abortion]].

The "Lulu" plays ''[[Earth Spirit (play)|Erdgeist]]'' (''Earth Spirit'', 1895) and ''[[Pandora's Box (play)|Die Büchse der Pandora]]'' (''Pandora's Box'', 1904) were probably his best-known works until [[Spring Awakening (musical)|the 2006 adaptation of ''Spring Awakening'']]. Originally conceived as a single play, the two pieces tell a continuous story of a sexually enticing young dancer who rises in society through her relationships with wealthy men but who later falls into poverty and prostitution.<ref name="mueller">{{cite book |last=Mueller |first=Carl R. |chapter=Introduction |title=Frank Wedekind: Four Major Plays |publisher=Smith and Krauss |location=Lyme, NH |volume=1 |year=2000}}</ref> The frank depiction of sexuality and violence in these plays, including [[lesbianism]] and an encounter with [[Jack the Ripper]] (a role that Wedekind played in the original production),<ref name="willett">Willett (1959, 73n).</ref> pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on the stage at the time. [[Karl Kraus (writer)|Karl Kraus]] helped Wedekind stage it in Vienna.<ref name="Bru06">{{cite book |last1=Bru |first1=Sascha |last2=Martens |first2=Gunther |year=2006 |title=The invention of politics in the European avant-garde (1906–1940) |pages=52–3}}</ref>

''[[The Court-Singer (play)|Der Kammersänger]]'' ("The Court-Singer", 1899) is a one-act character study of a famous opera singer who receives a series of unwelcome guests at his hotel suite.

In ''[[Franziska (play)|Franziska]]'' (1910), the title character, a young girl, initiates a [[Faust|Faustian pact]] with the Devil, selling her soul for the knowledge of what it is like to live life as a man (reasoning that men seem to have all the advantages).

A number of Wedekind's works have been translated into English by [[Samuel Atkins Eliot Jr.]]

===List of major works===
* ''[[Spring Awakening (play)|Frühlings Erwachen]]'' (''The Awakening of the Spring'', 1891)
* ''[[Earth Spirit (play)|Erdgeist]]'' (''Earth Spirit'', 1895)
* ''[[The Court Singer (play)|Die Kammersänger]]'' (''The Court-Singer'' or ''The Tenorist'', 1899) [one-act play]
* ''[[The Marquis of Keith (play)|Der Marquis von Keith]]'' (''The Marquis of Keith'', 1901)
* ''[[Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls]]'' (1903) [novella]
* ''[[King Nicolo (play)|König Nicolo oder So ist das Leben]]'' (''King Nicolo, or Such is Life'', 1902)
* ''[[Pandora's Box (play)|Die Büchse der Pandora]]'' (''Pandora's Box'', 1904)
* ''[[Hidalla (play)|Hidalla oder Sein und Haben]]'' (''Hidalla, or Being and Having'', 1905)
* ''[[The Dance of Death (Wedekind)|Totentanz]]'' (''The Dance of Death'', 1905); later title 'Tod und Teufel' (Death and Devil)
* ''[[Music (play)|Musik]]'' (''Music'', 1906)
* ''[[Castle Wetterstein (play)|Schloss Wetterstein]]'' (''Castle Wetterstein'', 1910)
* ''[[Franziska (play)|Franziska]]'' (1912)
* ''[[Bismark (play)|Bismarck]]'' (1916)
* ''[[Heracles (Wedekind)|Herakles]]'' (''Heracles'', 1917)

==Adaptations==

The "Lulu" plays formed the basis for [[Georg Wilhelm Pabst|G. W. Pabst]]'s acclaimed [[silent film]] ''[[Pandora's Box (1929 film)|Pandora's Box]]'' (1929), starring [[Louise Brooks]] as Lulu, and also [[Alban Berg]]'s [[opera]] ''[[Lulu (opera)|Lulu]]'' (1937), which is considered to be one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century opera.<ref name="Kobbe">Harewood, Earl of. ''The Definitive Kobbe's Opera Book'', New York: Putnam, 1987. p.875</ref> [[Walerian Borowczyk]] based his 1980 film ''Lulu'' on these plays. The plays were adapted into comic books by John Linton Roberson, published in 2013 and 2020.<ref>Roberson, John Linton. [http://www.jlroberson.org/comix/lulu/index.html "Lulu"]</ref> They also form the basis for the 2011 album ''[[Lulu (Lou Reed and Metallica album)|Lulu]]'', a collaboration between the rock musician [[Lou Reed]] and the [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Metallica]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://loureedmetallica.com/ |title=Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu |publisher=Loureedmetallica.com |access-date=2014-08-11}}</ref>

''Hidalla'' was used as a source for a libretto by [[Franz Schreker]], intended to be set by [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]], but later set by Schreker himself in 1915 as the opera ''[[Die Gezeichneten]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Les Stigmatisés: Festival Les Jard |url=http://www.opera-lyon.com/spectacle/opera/les-stigmatises-0|website=Opera-Lyon|access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226052515/http://www.opera-lyon.com/spectacle/opera/les-stigmatises-0 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

''Der Kammersänger'' was adapted by composer [[Hugo Weisgall]] for his English-language opera ''The Tenor''.

Wedekind's [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolist]] [[novella]] ''[[Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls]]'' (1903) was the basis for the films ''[[Innocence (2004 film)|Innocence]]'' (2004) by [[Lucile Hadžihalilović]] and ''[[The Fine Art of Love]]'' (2005) by [[John Irvin]].

In 2006, ''Frühlings Erwachen'' was adapted into the successful [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical ''[[Spring Awakening (musical)|Spring Awakening]]''.

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. "Wedekind, Frank". In ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-43437-8}}. p. 1189-1190.
* Boa, Elizabeth. 1987. ''The Sexual Circus: Wedekind's Theatre of Subversion''. Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-14234-7}}.
* [[Bertolt Brecht|Brecht, Bertolt]]. 1965. ''[[Messingkauf Dialogues|The Messingkauf Dialogues]]''. Trans. John Willett. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. London: Methuen, 1985. {{ISBN|0-413-38890-5}}.
* Mueller, Carl R. 2000. Introduction to ''Frank Wedekind: Four Major Plays, Vol 1''. Lyme, New Hampshire: Smith and Kraus.
* Willett, John. 1967. ''The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects.'' Third rev. ed. London: Methuen, 1977. {{ISBN|0-413-34360-X}}.

==External links==
* {{Commonscat-inline}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=34080| name=Frank Wedekind}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frank Wedekind}}
* {{Librivox author |id=65}}
* {{IBDB name|454225}}

{{Frank Wedekind}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedekind, Frank}}
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:Plays by Frank Wedekind|*]]
[[Category:19th-century German dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century German male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century German male actors]]
[[Category:19th-century German male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century German dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century German male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century German male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century German male musicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof]]
[[Category:German expressionist writers]]
[[Category:German male stage actors]]
[[Category:German plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Modernist theatre]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Hanover]]
[[Category:Writers from Hanover]]
[[Category:Male actors from Hanover]]
[[Category:Deaths from complications of gastrointestinal surgery]]
[[Category:German satirical dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:German satirical poets]]

Frank Wedekind - Revision history

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