Alraune
A novel of artificial insemination and a soulless woman.
Alraune is a 1911 novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers, also the name of its female lead character. The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Hanns Heinz Ewers
- Published
- 1911
- Genre
- Science fantasy
- horror
- dark fantasy
- Gothic
Facts from the source article.
Legend
The medieval German legend of the alraune begins with the mandrake root, Mandragora officinarum, which was believed to grow from the semen of hanged men beneath the gallows. Alchemists thought that after a man’s neck snapped, his final ejaculation soaked into the earth, though some accounts substitute blood. The root was used in love potions, and its fruit was said to help with pregnancy. Witches who had sex with the root were believed to produce soulless children incapable of genuine love.
Synopsis
A scientist named Jakob ten Brinken, who studies heredity, artificially inseminates a prostitute using the semen of an executed murderer. The resulting daughter, Alraune, is adopted by the professor but grows up incapable of love, instead experiencing compulsive sexuality and twisted relationships. After discovering the truth about her unnatural conception, she turns against her creator.
Adaptations
Several films and other works are based on or inspired by the novel. A 1918 Hungarian movie of 80 minutes is now believed to be lost. Another 1918 German film, Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne, ran 88 minutes and was directed by Eugen Illés. The 1928 silent German film Alraune, also known as Unholy Love, was 125 minutes, black and white, directed by Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen, and starred Brigitte Helm as Alraune and Paul Wegener as the scientist. Critics regard it as the definitive version. When first shown in Britain, censors removed details of the woman's origins, making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences. A 1930 sound remake, also known as The Daughter of Evil, was directed by Richard Oswald and again starred Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune); it was 103 minutes and black and white. A 1952 black and white German feature film, Alraune or Unnatural: The Fruit of Evil, was directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and featured an all-star German cast including Hildegard Knef as Alraune and Erich von Stroheim as the scientist. From 1998 to 2004, a series of black and white German comic books illustrated by Tony Greis appeared; these deviate significantly from the novel, with the main character cursed to live as if she is Alraune until she can find a way out from under the curse.
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