Alraune
1304000
218576400
2008-06-11T07:28:32Z
189.62.51.187
/* See also */
{{otheruses}}
'''''Alraune''''' (German for ''Mandrake'') is a novel by German novelist [[Hanns Heinz Ewers]] published in [[1911]]. It is also the name of the female lead character.
==Legend==
The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middles Ages in Germany. The [[humanoid]]-shaped [[Mandrake (plant)|Mandrake]] root or ''Mandragora officinarum'' was widely believed to be produced by the semen of [[hanged]] men under the [[gallows]]. [[Alchemy|Alchemists]] claimed that hanged men [[ejaculation|ejaculated]] after their [[neck]]s were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". In some versions, it is blood instead of semen. The [[root]] itself was used in love [[philtre]]s and [[potion]]s while its [[fruit]] was supposed to facilitate [[pregnancy]]. Witches who "made love" to the Mandrake root were said to produce [[offspring]] which had no [[feeling]]s of real [[love]] and had no [[soul]].{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
==Fiction==
The novel deviates from the myth by concentrating on the issues of [[artificial insemination]] and individuality: [[genetics]] versus [[Nature versus nurture|environment]]. A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brincken, interested in the laws of [[heredity]], impregnates a prostitute in a [[laboratory]] with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse [[intimate relationship|relationship]]s throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she revenges herself against the professor.
There have been a number of films based on the myth and the novel of ''Alraune''.
* 1918 - ''[[Alraune (1918 film)|Alraune]]'', an 80 minute [[Hungary|Hungarian]] movie which is now believed to be lost
* 1918 - ''[[Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne]]'', an 88 minute [[Germany|German]] movie directed by Eugen Illés
* 1928 - ''[[Alraune (1928 film)|Alraune]]'', also known as ''Unholy Love'', a 125 minute black and white, silent German version directed by Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen. It starred [[Brigitte Helm]] as Alraune and Paul Wegener as the scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken. It uses the novel and is regarded by critics as the definitive version of Alraune. When this film was first shown in Britain, [[British Board of Film Classification|film censors]] removed the details of the woman's origins, thereby making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences.
* 1930 - ''Alraune'', also known as ''The Daughter of Evil'', a 103 minute black and white German version directed by [[Richard Oswald]] and again starring Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune). This is the sound version of the above film.
* 1952 - ''Alraune'', or ''The Unnatural'', a black and white German version directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt. This had an all-star German cast including [[Hildegard Knef]] as Alraune and [[Erich von Stroheim]] as the scientist.
Several movies have shown the influence of the Alraune theme:
*''Embryo'' ([[1976]])
*The ''Species'' trilogy:
**''[[Species (movie)|Species]]'' ([[1995]])
**''[[Species II]]'' ([[1998]])
**''[[Species III]]'' ([[2004]])
==See also==
*[[Mandrake (plant)|Mandrake]]
*[[Alruna]]
*[[Artificial insemination]]
*[[Gynoid]]
*[[Homunculus]]
*[[Nature versus nurture]]
*[[List of films made in Weimar Germany]]
[[Category:Science fiction characters]]
[[Category:Science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Films of Weimar Germany]]
[[de:Alraune (Ewers)]]
[[pt:Alraune]]
[[ru:Альраун]]