Talk:Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Work Life Balance?

I'd love to see more information about Mary Braddon as an actress, writer, and editor, in addition to her scandalous public reputation. Is there more we can say about her professional life, in addition to a list of her published works? Sbliss2021 (talk) 15:50, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Technical and Professional Editing

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation–supported course assignment, between 12 January 2026 and 30 April 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Coralflowers (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Dr.ozkul (talk) 15:29, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

Wiki Education Editing Plan

Hello. I am a student editor tasked to reorganize and copyedit this article. My current plan is to combine details from personal life into the biography section, create a section for the Belgravia magazine, and provide minimal copyedits throughout the article. I will also expand the lead section to include relevant information both about her life and major works as discussed within the article.

Additionally, there are several quotes in the article that should be paraphrased in accordance with Wikipedia's rules. I will paraphrase these accordingly. There are two instances that I believe NPOV, so I will alter these sentences to provide a more neutral viewpoint. I also believe the work titles are over-repeated and may attempt to reduce their usage in the article.

Does anyone know why References and Sources are split up as they are? Since none of the sources appear within the article, I may remove the section or move the most important sources to "Legacy".

If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns please reach out to me here or on my userpage. I appreciate any feedback and hope to improve this article! Coralflowers (talk) 16:07, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

I haven't checked that none of the sources are used in the article but, if so and they are relevant, I suggest renaming Sources as Further reading, per MOS:FURTHER. Looking forward to your improvements. Wikipedia:Good article criteria is a good guide, even if you're not aiming for GA status. Masato.harada (talk) 17:33, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the feedback. I will look into renaming Sources as Further Reading. It seems that was the original intent for that section. Coralflowers (talk) 15:59, 24 February 2026 (UTC)

I have just about finished my editing. I am going to do one more readthrough and add a new citation to the newly modified lead.

Sensation fiction is my literary focus, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon is a personal favorite of mine. Although I have completed my editing plan for this class, I believe much of the article needs an overhaul and additional content. I am hoping that my edits, many of which combine information scattered throughout the article into clearly defined sections, will spur on additional editing and content. I have a loose plan to add some content myself over the summer, time permitting.

Some concerns of note:

There were several NPOV and V issues throughout the article, as well as blatantly false information. For example, the article claimed that Braddon worked as an actress for three years; however, the attached citation made it clear she worked for eight years. Per the directions of this assignment, I was unable to fact-check more thoroughly. I think one source is over-relied upon: a critical edition of Lady Audley's Secret that can be difficult to fact check without purchasing the book. I added several citation needed tags where necessary, but I did my best to not remove any information from the article; it is sparse enough. I paraphrased direct quotes that I found unnecessary, but kept the long quote detailing Braddon's novel structure. Disappointingly, however, the quote itself has no citation.

I am most skeptical about the information regarding Belgravia. The original section, pre-editing, had an opinionated depiction ("lavish" "made it clear") and I'm not convinced that I effectively removed the bias. I would need to look more thoroughly into both the magazine's history and critical analysis of Braddon's ties to the sensation genre.

Overall, I am proud about the edits I have made. If anyone would like clarification about a specific change or my vision for the article's future, please reach out to me. Although the assignment has finished, I will be keeping an eye on this article. Coralflowers (talk) 06:32, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

I should possibly mention that my restructuring was loosely based off the article for Mary Shelley. Coralflowers (talk) 06:37, 3 March 2026 (UTC)