im so obsessed w the way hadestown portrays masculinity. bc like hades is this very hypermasculine figure. he is a businessman who uses the excuse of providing for his wife to control Persephone and abuse his workers. when persephone refuses his advances, he moves his control over to Eurydice and takes advantage of her vulnerability. basically the poster child for toxic masculinity. he even sings not just the lowest notes in the show, but some of the lowest notes being sung on broadway right now. almost like he is overcompensating in his gender performance.
this is contrasted in huge way when compared to orpheus who is as far away from traditionally masculine as he can get. he is sensitive, soft, an artist. he even creates life when he makes the flower for Eurydice. And when he is at his most powerful, he is singing some of the highest notes in the show. he is very comfortable acting outside of his gender norm
thats partly why orpheus was always doomed to fail hades's challenge because hades was forcing orpheus into his own toxic idea of masculinity: he leads, she follows. and that's never who orpheus was, nor how he should be.
