Why does Elizabeth misjudge Darcy for so long?

She combines a real injury (the assembly insult) with a seductive informant (Wickham) and a temperament that enjoys being right. Darcy gives her little counter-evidence in public; Wickham gives her a coherent villain story. Local opinion already dislikes Darcy, so her prejudice feels like consensus rather than bias.

Austen is careful: Elizabeth is not foolish. She is selectively empirical. She notices Bingley’s sisters’ pride quickly, yet she discounts Jane’s milder readings of Darcy and Bingley when they inconvenience her thesis. The misjudgment lasts until a document — the letter — and later Pemberley’s testimony (Mrs. Reynolds) overwhelm the performance of charm. Link this question to Wickham’s and Darcy’s character pages and to the early assembly chapters to show the trap being built.