Did she really go to 1796 with Barnabas or did Barnabas just believe that Kitty was inhabiting Jostte's body?
Aother thing is that if Josette dies again by suicide (poison), where does Kitty go?
The 1796 stuff doesn't prevent Kitty's earlier life in 1897 and prior to 1897. If I suddenly right now go back to 1900 (like if my time machine gets Y2K), my 1900 is the latest thing to happen to me. For me 1900 comes after 2006. Personal timelines are what matter.
They don't seem like the same person to me, and the differences don't strike me as being simply a result of environment. Kitty had a sense of humor, but I don't remember Josette having one.
This leads me to the enchanting possibility that Petofi worked the whole Kitty/Josette trick in order get Barnabas out of his hair - but I can't remember the 1897 chronology clearly enough to be able to work out how that might have come about.
Perhaps I'd like it less if it didn't seem just about impossible.
I wonder if it had happened to Josette, how would she have dealt with it? She never had to fight for anything and probably would have no idea what to do. If she lost everything that meant something to her, she undoubtedly would've just curled up and died. Come to think of it, she did.
Reincarnation knows no gender boundaries...