Intentions (1891) Wilde revised his dialogues on aesthetic subjects for publication in this volume, which comprises: The Critic as Artist The Decay of Lying Pen, Pencil and Poison The Truth of Masks Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 - 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams and plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment which was followed by his early death.