This line. Mads, I'm gonna need you to be a worse actor for a second, ok bud? Because what. The look of betrayal on his face. The way his lip curls like a dog ready to bare its teeth. Lump in his throat. Swallowing back tears that were never supposed to see the light of someone elses eyes. Almost disgusted at himself for not only entertaining the idea of letting Will see inside of him, but actively giving him the looking glass and saying, "Here. This is me in all of my depravity."

He specifically says "I let you know me." He gave permission. Encouraged it. He wanted it. It's the human in him getting sedated. Put down. Bad dog or whatever.

This guy drives me insane because he knows what he is. Knows that what he does is "the most disgusting thing in the world" to others. But then some twitchy man is placed in his field of vision, and being the hawk he is, zeros in on him. For as smart as he is, as strategic and deadly, he still feels deeply. Maybe not in the same way Will does (obviously) but he still hopes. Still yearns. If he was devoted to a god he would've probably prayed about it too. But he didn't need a god. Didn't want one to confide in. He was fine on his own. Until Will.

I'm sure that he sees Will as some form of otherworldly light. Dark. Grey area. Whatever the vapid space between stars is called, he sees that in Will. That is Will.

Giving into human desires is beneath him. And yet he let his perfectly curated human suit be unraveled because he finally met the one person who could understand him. Finally met the person who he could hold a mirror to and see bits of himself in the reflection. And that mirror got shattered like a teacup. Seven years of bad luck or something.

Betrayal is an ache deep in your gut. Feels like your organs are being ripped out of you just like the rug beneath your feet. And you can only think about how foolish you were for wanting anything in the first place. Disappointment requires expectation and good lord was that man close to his own heaven on earth. An alter he would worship without prying eyes. A love that would shelter him. Cut him and hold pressure to the wound.

Hannibal was starving for connection before he had Will, and then everything changed for him. As Bedelia tells Will, “Did he daily feel a stab of hunger, and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes.” Hannibal’s hunger is sated by so much as the sight of Will. A mere look at him is enough to satisfy him.

But Will is different. Rather than being sated by his connection with Hannibal, it is the very thing that makes him hungry. There’s a frame in the Italy chapter that makes it look like he’s trapped in a starvation cage. In the script for his sailing scene, he’s literally described to look hungry:

I noticed this during my current rewatch of Hannibal:

During season one, Will does not wear his glasses at any point during his therapy sessions with Hannibal.

In fact, he never wears his glasses when he's alone with Hannibal at all. The only time we see him wearing them is during their first meeting in Jack's office.

This is in stark contrast to how Will almost always wears his glasses around Jack. He very frequently wears them around his colleagues, Alana, and others.

I'd argue that Will's glasses are part of his own "person suit" in a few different ways, but that's a post for another day.

Overall, they are a literal and metaphorical barrier between Will and others he interacts with.