Mention has been made of Voltaire's ability to make friends, but it should be noted that he was something of a past master at making enemies, largely because of his sensitivity and the fact that he took almost malicious pleasure in using his sardonic wit to attack those with whom he did not agree. He demonstrated both capacities when he was allowed to return to Paris. He was introduced to the Court de Seaux, a famous literary and political salon, over which the attractive Duchess du Maine presided. It was apparently the duchess who got Voltaire to write lampoons against her enemy, The Regent, Orleans. So, in May 1716, Voltaire once more was forced to leave Paris for a time, going first to Tulle and later to Sully. He was not back in Paris very long when he faced more trouble. Two specially offensive libels appeared, Puerto Regnanto and J'ai vu. And this time Voltaire, suspected of being the author, was sent to the Bastille on May 16, 1717. He was to remain there for eleven months and then to be exiled to Châtenay and elsewhere. While occupying the room that came to be known by his name in the famous prison, Voltaire revised his tragedy, which was entitled Œdipe, and began work on his epic poem L' Henriade, which celebrated the deeds of Henry IV of France. It is notable that these two earliest works reveal Voltaire as a man dedicated to freedom and justice as he understood those concepts. A dominant theme in the play is the tyranny of the priesthood; the epic poem is memorable for the plea or tolerance.
It was on his release from prison that Voltaire adopted the name by which he is now known universally, Aurot de Voltaire. The aristocratic particle de is of special interest since he belonged to a bourgeois family. This indeed points to the fact that he was determined to rise in the world. The most common explanation of the name is that it is an imperfect anagram of Arouet, l.j. (le jeune), but other explanations have been advanced. Some have believed that it was an older name on his mother's side of the family; still others argue that it was derived from his schoolboy sobriquet, le volontaire.
