So the audience most likely will identify with Clarice. In the sense of what the story is about, you can put yourself in Clarice's place. It's a question of judgment. There is also a Dante subtext in the film. We are in Florence, the city of Dante.
Purgatory is where the soul is tested.
Your soul is being tested to see if it can be accepted to heaven. And in a way, it's also a moral test for Clarice. There's also the theme of Dante and Beatrice. Dante was in love with Beatrice, but he could never have her love because she was in love with somebody else. That is how I feel Hannibal Lecter sees Clarice.