What are two adjectives that describe Mercutio?

Mercutio is one of the main characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Critics have often considered Mercutio one of the playwright's finest characters. He is the best friend of Romeo and so is allied with the Montague family. Mercutio's name may have been derived from the Roman messenger god Mercury. Someone who is considered mercurial has the attributes of unpredictability, and that certainly suits Mercutio. From the first time he enters, in act 1, scene 4, he is a whirling dervish, so to speak, trading barbs with Romeo about his friend's unrequited love for Rosaline and then launching into the long speech about Queen Mab which he seems to weave out of thin air. The beginning of the Mab speech is lighthearted: "She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes / In shape no bigger than an agate stone . . . Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose . . . Tickling a parson’s nose as he lies asleep." But it descends into a dark tirade:

This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,That presses them and learns them first to bear,Making them women of good carriage.This is she


The speech exemplifies Mercutio's unpredictable nature as he personifies a range of emotions from a gregarious affinity for his friends to a dark side riddled with rage and violence. He again demonstrates this unpredictability during act 3, scene 1 when he berates Benvolio, accusing the harmless Benvolio of always being ready to fight:


Thou—why, thou wilt quarrel with a man thathath a hair more or a hair less in his beard thanthou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for crackingnuts, having no other reason but because thouhast hazel eyes.



This biting, yet benign, cynicism stays under control until Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt. Mercutio changes his attitude quickly, erupting into violence which will ultimately lead to his death.

Another adjective for Mercutio is provided by his friend Benvolio, who labels Mercutio "brave" when it's discovered that Mercutio's wound has been fatal:


O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio is dead.That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.




Mercutio is indeed brave for standing up for his friend when Tybalt calls Romeo a "villain." He is both tragic and heroic in his bravery as he feels he cannot let the hated Tybalt get away with slandering Romeo. He further shows his bravery (and unpredictability) during his dying scene when he seems to poke fun at his own wound:


No, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide asa church door, but ’tis enough. ’Twill serve. Ask forme tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.




It's often been suggested by critics that it seems Shakespeare kills off Mercutio too early in the play, noting that he may have done so because Mercutio is such an arresting figure who was stealing the show away from the title characters.