Drama, Anecdote, Case: Wedekind’s Lulu

Frank Wedekind’s drama Lulu was written more than fifty years after Woyzeck, and unlike Büchner’s drama and most literary texts discussed so far, it is not based on the adaptation of a singular historical case that would allow interpretive access to the documentary material. From a literary perspective, Wedekind has often been seen as a successor to Büchner, insofar as his dramatic work displays similar traits such as an open form and a lack of narrative closure.¹ Although not a single historical case can be identified as the model for the Monstretragödie Lulu, the modern form of the play can