What do you think of Friar Lawrence's plan in Romeo and Juliet? What are its strong points and drawbacks?

's plan is
forto evade marriage withby taking a sleeping potion that will make her appear to be dead. Once
she is laid in the crypt, she will wake up. At that point, she can be reunited with , and the
two can go to live as a married couple in Mantua.

On one level, it is an
ingenious plan. Romeo won't be expected back in Verona because he is exiled, and nobody will
miss Juliet because they will all assume she is dead. The couple will be able to live happily in
Mantua, where nobody has heard of the feud.

The flaw or drawback in the plan
is communication. Because of the plague in Mantua, the messenger can't enter the city to leave
the crucial news with Romeo that Juliet is only feigning death. When Romeo hears that she has
died, he has no reason not to believe the story is true, and he heads back to Verona, prepared
to kill himself. When he sees Juliet appearing dead, he does commit suicide.

The friar's plan was too complex. It would have been better for Juliet...