She was my favorite character in PT1841; I loved every scene she was in.
I do agree that she was a totally different "take" than what the NT would've been (had NT history been different, natch). One has to remember two big differences in the two: in NT, Josette DuPres received the welcoming arms of the Collins family; it's obvious, in PT, she was not. They were apparently cordial to her, but not embracing. We do know of one reason why, but I shant say as it would constitute a spoiler. However, I consider the two parallel times to be different. I always thought that, in PT1841 (and earlier), the Collins family in the late 1790's did not approve of marrying Josette because she was a Catholic, whereas they were Protestants, and already nativist anti-Catholic bigotry would not countenance such a union. She came in as a "black sheep," and her husband, Barnabas, was primarily disinherited, save for what his mother Naomi (who would probably have remained more affectionate towards her son) gave him and his wife in the way of the Old House and some financial support, but beyond that, Mr. and Mrs. Barnabas Collins, while living on the edges of the family, were pretty much on their own but did fine - not hyper-wealthy like the rest, but not exactly starving; they were the "poorer" relations. Their son, Bramwell, because of Catholic requirements for a mixed-marriage, would also had to have been Catholic, keeping him a black sheep.
As for PT Josette lacking, or having lost her flair and elegance, that would come from once being part of an aristrocatic, wealthy French colonist plantation family on Martinique and having lost it all by marrying Barnabas (possibly her Catholic father, Andres, being as militantly Catholic and anti-Protestant as the Collins family was militantly Protestant and anti-Catholic) did his own bit of disinheriting. But she gave it all up for the man she loved, which can also be a very humbling experience, making her a humble person. Plus, having lived in America for most of her life, she would become far more Americanized than Gallicanized.
Gerard