“Mrs. Siddon's as the Tragic Muse”

The lady in the painting is Mrs. Siddon, an actress and a wife of William Siddons who is also an actor. However, her marriage fell apart and they separated from each other. Her acting career carried on and prospered. She then received an offer for the role of “Queen of Tragedy” which made her a well-known actress.

The painting as seen to your right, was created from Reynolds’ inspirations of Mrs. Siddons’ astonishing talents and Classical subjects about muses from ancient Greek and Roman mythologies. That he painted Mrs. Siddons as Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. He painted her expression in conflict yet with an elegant and noble air that exuded a sense of grace. As you see in the painting she looks undecided as the two allegories, Pity and Terror who stands behind her, cloud her judgment about her situation in which Lady Macbeth will commit a crime and the remorse she will suffer.

When I saw this painting, I was speechless. As I looked closer, it felt like even though she’s going through a difficult situation. She tries to stay calm as she thinks of a solution without anything or anyone to distract her. Why do I think so? The reason is this, the way two figures behind her are acting. They seems like they’re telling the lady what to do and the way the lady is positioned. Her facial expression tells me that she’s doubtful and hesitating in whatever she’s thinking that the two figures behind her kept butting in.