# Conrade — Much Ado About Nothing character guide

> Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Conrade Yea, Conrade Masters, Conrade Off

**First appearance:** 0004-act-i-scene-iii

## Snapshot

Don John's companion-in-arms, a quiet accomplice who lends his ear and his silence to schemes he never quite disowns.

## Who they are

Conrade moves in Don John's shadow, one of the disaffected hangers-on who give the bastard brother his small court of grievance. He is less an architect of mischief than a witness to it, present when Borachio boasts and when the plot is hatched. His function is to make Don John's malice feel like a faction rather than a whim — and to be overheard at the wrong moment.

## In the story

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/chapters/act-i-scene-iii)

Attempts to reason with Don John and pledges to assist him in his schemes.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii)

Listens to Borachio's account and is arrested alongside him by the Watch.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-ii)

The other prisoner, who insults Dogberry by calling him an ass.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/characters/conrade
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/characters