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In The Silence of the Lambs Dr. Hannibal Lecter had drawn a picture of Clarice in prison.

The picture is mentioned as below,

It indicates that he was thinking more about her, to draw the picture of her.

Again, he was trying to touch her hand while giving one file to her. The following picture indicates this:

Was it true that Dr. Hannibal Lecter liked her or was attracted towards her?

It has been shown in the movie that Dr. Lecter was taking care of her. The following incidences indicate this:

1. Lecter had given her a towel to dry her hairs.




2. He had asked about her leg's wound.




3. Again, at the end Lecter asked Clarice about her nightmares whether they are stopped or not.

From her life story, Dr. Hannibal Lecter got the fact that Clarice is a very sensitive and kind person since her childhood. She is innocent (one dialogue of Lecter indicates this). She is not rude like others to whom he used to see around. So, due to her nature was he attracted towards her?

Yes, Hannibal Lecter sees a lot of things in Clarice:

1. Someone who is smart, but not rude. (Rudeness is Hannibal's biggest pet-peeve).


2. Someone who has suffered in a way that he has suffered (childhood trauma, loosing family),


3. And eventually, someone who may be able to house his dead little sister's conscious.


4. And someone to love, who can also heel him from his childhood trauma.

In Silence of the Lambs (book and film), it isn't perfectly clear what it is exactly that draws Hannibal to Clarice and even if he is particularly drawn to her vs just screwing with her head. But the Religious depictions and time dedicated towards her become much more clear in the next two novels Hannibal (which takes place seven years after SOTL) and Hannibal Rising (a prequel origin and revenge story set during Lecter's childhood and late-teenage years).

In these novels, it becomes clearer that Lecter and Clarice both suffered some traumatic childhood experiences that involved losing someone they loved. For Clarice, it's her father. For Hannibal, it's his little sister.

The Hannibal novel, however, has a lot going on that isn't really explained. Hannibal somehow comes to believe in necromancy; that Clarice is perfect vessel for his little sister's (Mischa's) consciousness.

And so I came to believe, " Dr. Lecter was saying, "that there had to
be a place in the world for Mischa, a prime place vacated for her, and
I came to think, Clarice, that the best place in the world was yours."
-Hannibal pg 535

Lecter goes through great pains to try and psychic drive Clarice to bend her to his will, but ultimately comes to realize he has no control over what he created and Clarice declares that the best space for Mischa would be his own.

"It occurred to Dr. Lecter in that moment that with all of his
knowledge and intrusion, he could never entirely predict her, or own
her at all. He could feed the caterpillar, he could whisper through
the chrysalis; what hatched out followed it's own nature and was
beyond him." - Hannibal (about Clarice) Pg523

Normally, one might assume that Hannibal wouldn't accept this, but oddly Hannibal does (because he's in love) and the two go off to Buenos Ares together. From Clarice's perspective, despite the manipulation, there may be subtext from Thomas Harris about Clarice transforming into a women, as there are some erotic lines about nurturing Lecter from her breasts.

In the film version, Lecter also puts Clarice in a rather expensive designer dress, as he helps Clarice with her misogynistic nemesis at the FBI Burro, Paul Krendler. These details are important, as Clarice is thought of as homely and without taste, (and taste is something Hannibal cares about greatly), which could play back to how Lecter remembers his toddler sister, being sort of imperfect and messy. At any rate the final lines of the Hannibal novel are very suggestive that Clarice is where she wants to be and Lecter is now beginning to heel from his past, because of this romantic relationship...

"Occasionally, on purpose, Dr. Lecter drops a teacup to shatter on the
floor. He is satisfied when it does not gather itself together. For
many months now, he has not seen Mischa in his dreams.

Someday perhaps the cup will come together. Or somewhere Starling may
hear a crossbow string and come to some unwilled awakening, if she
indeed even sleeps. We'll withdraw now, while they're dancing on the
terrace--..." -Hannibal pg 544