Juliet’s father, unknowing that she is secretly wed to Romeo, commands her to marry Paris. She and her friend, Friar Lawrence, come up with a plan: Juliet will take a drug that will make her appear to die. After the funeral, Romeo will retrieve her and they will run away together without her family suspecting a thing. Friar Lawrence sends a letter explaining the situation to Romeo, but it goes undelivered, and when news of Juliet’s death reaches him, he takes it all too seriously.