Where he went to he hardly knew. He remembered wandering through dimly lit streets, past gaunt, black-shadowed archways and evil-looking houses. Women with hoarse voices and harsh laughter had called after him. Drunkards had reeled by, cursing and chattering to themselves like monstrous apes. He had seen grotesque children huddled upon door-steps, and heard shrieks and oaths from gloomy courts.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 7. When Dorian ferociously rejects Sibyl’s affections, he sinks back into the gloomy and oppressive streets of London. Vivid metaphoric word combinations and simile are used with powerful effect to convey the fearful, threatening and evil Gothic atmosphere of the city with its "monstrous" people. The dark side of London with its "black-shadowed archways" and "grotesque children" and "gloomy courts" mirrors Dorian’s own descent into darkness. His destruction of Sibyl has set him on the path to corruption.