Mercutio plays a very important role in the play even though he only appears in four of the twenty-four scenes in the play, as he has a hand in the meeting of Romeo and Juliet and the demise of Romeo thus making him a very memorable character. But he is also very memorable because of his overbearing personality; he attracts the audience's interest using humour, crude jokes and inventive imagery [the Queen Mab speech].

Mercutio is not a Montague nor is he a Capulet but he is a kinsman of the Prince thus he is a friend of both families. This is important as it enables Mercutio to mock the actions of both families for he has not been born into the animosity between the two families. Therefore when he gets into a fight...