Romeo's best friend, Mercutio, shows many different qualities before he is killed. When we see Mercutio using one of his best qualities, be humorous is when he has his major soliloquy about Queen Nab. Mercutio second quality is being arrogant to Tybalt when he wants to fight Romeo for being at the Capulet ball. Mercutio shows devotion to Romeo by being there when Romeo was down about Rosaline.

One of the qualities Mercutio shows is being humorous. Mercutio in his long soliloquy to Romeo and Benvolio shows this. He is trying to explain to Romeo that there are other "fish in the sea", and not to be down about the one that doesn't love you. When Romeo says, "I dreamed a dream tonight," Mercutio came back to say, "Oh then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes in shape no bigger than an agate stone." Mercutio goes on to say that the fairy is drawn by a team of horses of little tiny creatures. After explaining what her coach and what she looks like he fools around by exclaiming, "And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream on curtseys straight." Romeo was getting irritated with Mercutio's little speech so by the next couple lines Romeo basically tells him to shut up! The soliloquy shows how he can fool around. Mercutio is close to Romeo so he acts dumb to give him a well deserved laugh.

Mercutio's second quality is arrogance. Mercutio is extremely arrogant in Act three scene one. This is when Tybalt comes to fight Romeo for crashing the Capulet masquerade. Tybalt walks to a public square and finds Mercutio, Benvolio, Page, and Servants. They exchange a few words, until newlywed Romeo enters the picture. Tybalt wants to fight Romeo, but he tries talking his way out of it, but Mercutio being the man he is gets back in on things, and shouts, "Oh, calm, dishonorable, vile submission! Alla staccato (a thrust in fencing. Mercutio uses this term as a name for Tybalt.) carries it away. Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?" At that moment Tybalt yells back, what do you want with me? And then Mercutio calls him "Good King of Cats" and then says that he has nine lives, but he only want one of them to bruise. After all of that Tybalt exclaims, "I am the man for you!" Mercutio and Tybalt fight until unknowing Romeo jumps in front of the fighting, not before Tybalt gets a fatal stab in. Now Mercutio is down and everyone asks if he is okay and his reply was, "'tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church door, but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." Mercutio picks a fight with the best swordsmen in Verona, and talks himself up,

But yet he gets beat, this shows his arrogance.

Then last quality is devotion. Mercutio is Romeo's best friend, he has been with in good times and bad. Mercutio gets involved with the fight between what was supposed to be between Romeo and Tybalt, but he steps in because he knows that there was no way Romeo could win. Another account was when he took Romeo to the Capulet ball. Romeo was down about Rosaline, and he felt obligated to help his friend.

Mercutio is a character that shows good examples of the three qualities, Humor, Arrogance, and Devotion. If anything these qualities got him into a lot of trouble, death. He paid the ultimate price for his actions, but was a good character never the less.