I have a fault when it comes to stories, regardless of the medium they inhabit: if I don't like or sympathize with any of the characters, I have a hard time enjoying the work. The immediate comparison between Emma and Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park proved to me pretty clearly that I was annoyed with Emma because I was annoyed with Emma, not with Jane Austen herself.
So in retrospect it was a bad idea for me to be introduced to the author via that particular work, due entirely to quirks in my own character.
[Yes, I can definitely see the effects of a steady diet of Austen on my writing, as well.]