The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull. From time to time a huge misshapen cloud stretched a long arm across and hid it. The gas-lamps grew fewer, and the streets more narrow and gloomy.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 16. A simile linking the moon with death and the description of the dramatic sky creates an ominous atmosphere as Dorian heads for the opium dens. The comparison of the moon to a skull is foreshadowing of the attempt on Dorian’s life by James Vane in revenge for his sister Sibyl’s suicide. The passage has an air of Gothic foreboding that is found throughout the novel.