Sarah Siddons of feminine propriety. Commissioned and completed in 1784, Sir Joshua Reynolds' portrait, "Sarah Siddons as The Tragic Muse", is characterized by Reynolds' inspiration, contextualisation of the Muse, and distinctive brush work and paint palette. This portrait, as Heather McPherson writes, became the known depiction of tragedy, infused with contemporary ideas about acting and representation of the passions in Siddons' melancholy expression and deportment. Mary Hamilton's correspondence with her fiancé illuminated its seamless transition from "the artist's studio to the theatrical stage", practical venues that interlocked in the eighteenth century and formed a large part in creating the very idea of
To Mrs Siddons allusions to plays, the beginning of the poem compares Siddons's acting having a power over Coleridge as a children's story. Coleridge's impression of Siddons would continue for years after; in February 1797 Coleridge started creating a play that he hoped that Siddons would have a part. The play, called "Osorio", was later rejected by the producers at Drury Lane, the theatre that he hoped would perform the play. To Mrs Siddons "To Mrs Siddons" was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published in the 29 December 1794 "Morning Chronicle" as part of the "Sonnets on Eminent Characters" series. It describes