Mercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's 1597 tragedy

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...

, Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

. He is a close friend of Romeo

Romeo Montague

Romeo is one of the fictional protagonists in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is the son of old Montague and his wife, who secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet...

, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio

Benvolio

Benvolio Montague is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet.-Sources:In 1554, Matteo Bandello published the second volume of his Novelle which included his version of Giuletta e Romeo. Bandello emphasises Romeo's initial depression and the feud between the families,...

, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris

Count Paris

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Count Paris is a suitor of Juliet Capulet. He is handsome, somewhat self-absorbed, very wealthy, and is a kinsman of Prince Escalus...

. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona with the ability to freely float around both houses. The invitation to Capulet's party states that he has a brother named Valentine.

Though often fun-loving and witty, the latter of which shows through in his Queen Mab

Queen Mab

Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She also appears in other 17th century literature, and in various guises in later poetry, drama and cinema...

 speech in the first act, Mercutio's sense of humor can at times be facetious or even coarse, which tends to annoy his friends.