Some readers view Porphyro as the poem’s hero, some see him as no more than a seducer. How do you respond to his character and his role in the poem?

The idea that Porphryo has the role of a seducer in ‘The Eve of Saint Agnes’ can be interpreted through many sections of the poem, predominantly through the lengths he’s seen to go to in order to win Madeline. After he enters the castle, Porphyro instantly emotionally blackmails the first person he meets, Angela, by soothing her “here in this armchair sit”, and then making her feel guilty with the line “believe me by these tears” , allowing him to win her over so that he can get shown the way to Madeline’s chamber. This effective emotional blackmail could show to the reader that Porphyro is greatly skilled in getting what he wants, which in this case is an answer to his question “now tell me where is Madeline”. The way this blackmail is the first the reader hears of Porphyro, perhaps further intensifies this idea that he is a deeply persuasive character. When Porphyro is in Madeline’s chamber later in the poem, the character’s seductive nature is highlighted again when he is described as having “from forth the closet brought a heap of candied apple” perhaps showing his need to impress Madeline through the use of extravagant food, and therefore implying he will go to great lengths to win her over: he’s greatly seducing her.
However, others have regarded Porphyro’s great lengths to impress Madeline as just another quality of his romantic hero character. Readers can firstly infer this idea in the poem when understanding the character’s name has connotations with the colour purple, a colour suggesting passion and love, and maybe even fire that mirrors his “heart on fire for Madeline”, and thus painting him as a romantic character. This role could be mirrored by suggestions of how Porphyro feels towards Madeline: it could be argued that he feels nothing but adoration for Madeline, as he puts her on a pedestal through religious language for example “my love, my seraph fair…my heaven”, therefore he has great romantic feelings and is skilled in expressing his love.