So I came into Smithfield; and the shameful place, being all asmear with filth and fat and blood and foam, seemed to stick to me. So, I rubbed it off with all possible speed by turning into a street where I saw the great black dome of Saint Paul’s bulging at me from behind a grim stone building which a bystander said was Newgate Prison.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 20. Pip is not impressed by the stench and filth of Smithfield Market, as denoted by his vivid imagery and use of a contamination metaphor that it “seemed to stick” to him. In an attempt to escape he turns onto another street, only to be confronted the sight of the grim Newgate Prison. Pip’s first encounter with London has left him with a negative view of the city.