How might a Victorian audience have reacted to Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"?

It is quite possible that the Victorians would have recognizes the dark side of humanity through the unveiling of this tale. In much the same way the Vampire stories thrilled Victorian audiences and uncovered repressed sexual desire and intimacy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde would have uncovered a repressed violent tendency in viewers.  The Victorians (the Puritans in American, too, for that matter) were normal every day people--not perfect.  For all that they attempted to appear to be, they still had affairs, desires, committed crimes.  In fact, the infamous Jack the Ripper was active in Victorian times.

The audience would have recognized the hidden meaning in the play...that all of us have a monster within just dying to come to the surface and do, well...whatever our secret desires happen to be.

How might The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde be frightening to a Victorian audience?

In addition to sending the message to readers that they really want to be bad, this short novel also conveys the idea that our darker, more sinful desires are inherently stronger than our will to be virtuous.  Dr. Jekyll tries to distill his urges to do evil, sinful things and separate that side of himself out so that it can be eradicated.  The implicit message of such an attempt is that he, a person who seems to be a good, upstanding member of proper society, is not strong enough to resist those urges without assistance.

Second, the fact that the dark identity, Mr. Hyde, actually turns out to be more powerful than the side that longs to be virtuous confirms the message that our evil natures are stronger than our goodness.  In the end, Jekyll loses control of Hyde, and the latter is able to emerge much more easily and readily than ever before.  We see, then, that when they are pitted against one another, Hyde is more powerful, and, if he symbolizes the sordid, malicious side of human nature, his superiority says a lot about all of us.  For the Victorians, who worked hard to repress "improper" urges and privileged virtue, the idea that it is ultimately a losing battle would be frightening indeed.

How might The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde be frightening to a Victorian audience?

The Victorians were deeply concerned with character, with propriety, and with virtue. They were publicly committed to doing the right thing in a visible fashion; they wanted to be good, and to have their appearances match their character.

Jekyll and Hyde turned all those desires on their heads. It told them, "You don't want to be good. You really want to be bad—really bad!" It told them, "You can't trust someone based on appearances. Those change. You all have secrets."

It also addressed a fear of science. Science was engaged in overturning all that was precious to Victorians. There are lots of examples, but the most specific example is the theory of evolution that emerged during this time. Victorians wanted to be on the side of angels; evolution said, "You're essentially beasts!" So did Jekyll and Hyde.
Greg

How did the Victorians react to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

There are indeed examples of Victorian reactions to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Shortly after the novella was written, reviews began to appear in newspapers. Many thousands of copies of the novella were sold during its author's lifetime, which alone is evidence of its popularity during this period. Its at-the-time sales may have been bolstered by the excitement shown in the novella's reviews.

One 1886 reviewer, Andrew Lang, praised Stevenson for his treatment of the idea of double personalities (good and evil) existing within a single person because Stevenson’s execution of the idea was unique compared to previous authors who had used a similar concept (Lang’s review provided by The British Library).

Another reviewer anonymously wrote of Stevenson’s genius in creating such an intricate piece, saying that it is a work that goes deeper than similarly dark stories by Edgar Allan Poe and that readers would certainly need to read it twice (Anonymous review provided by The British Library).

If you need to find exact quotes, digital scans of these reviews are available in the online collection of The British Library at the links below.

What was the audience's reaction to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at its time?

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson was quite popular in its own period. It was part of a genre known as the "sensation novel" which emphasized plots that built up an atmosphere of horror and suspense. These works ranged from "penny dreadfuls", short, pamphlet-length works for a mass audience, to longer works of literary fiction. A key element of the genre, which distinguishes it from the Gothic, was the notion of horrors lurking behind ordinary life, and people who appeared normal on the surface but possessing some hidden evil or mania causing them to commit atrocities. Although some reviewers disparaged the genre as appealing to people's lowest instincts, it was enormously popular.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was both a literary and a popular success, not only selling well but generally admired for its literary craftsmanship and obtaining positive reviews. A favorable review in The Times on 25 January 1886 set the stage for its success. It is estimated that over 200,000 copies were sold between its publication and 1900.