Rough draft

Mercutio is considered one of the most important  characters in Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". Mercutio is the Prince's son, and is friends with both the Capulets and Montagues,but more importantly, he is Romeo's friend.

One reason Mercutio is considered the important character is because he is the first to see that Romeo is deeply in love. When Romeo complains about the amount of love he has for Rosaline, Mercutio tells him to get over it. 

Another reason Mercutio is considered important is because he views love as something imaginary and makes sexual jokes about it, he argues that love is a dream and dreams are nothing, and because of his view on love, he makes the plot more interesting. Mercutio not only has a problem with love but infact he's also pretty hostile towards women and female sexuality in general. An example of this includes when he lists Roseline's body parts:

I must conjure him.
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes,
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, 
By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh
And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us! 

The last reason, is because of his queen mob speech:

This is that very Mab
that plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the had, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage

In the queen mob speech, Mercutio says that women who are "hag-ridden" by queen mob, are learning how to beat, for example bear children, all the weight of the man on them. 

In conclusion, Mercutio was considered important for many reasons, how he was the prince's nephew and was friends with both sides of the family, how he understood Romeos love for roseline, and more importantly, his queen mob speech.