To make one his APE

Insights

Exploitation Through Ridicule

Refers to using someone as an object of mockery or manipulation, making them perform degrading or silly actions as though they were a trained animal.

Power and Subjugation

Implies a relationship of control and humiliation, where one person compels another to serve as their puppet or plaything, emphasizing dominance and the erosion of dignity.

Deception and Control

Conveys how someone may be tricked into compromising or embarrassing behavior, while others secretly derive amusement or benefit from their naïveté or eagerness to please.

Gendered Social Commentary

In Heywood’s citation—‘to make her husband her ape’—the phrase likely alludes to domestic role reversal or emasculation, suggesting a satirical critique of husbands controlled or humiliated by their wives in the popular drama of the time.

The Ape as Social Mirror

The ape, associated with mimicry and foolish display, becomes a symbol of lost agency—one who is made to perform for others, evoking broader anxieties about manipulation, social status, and public shame.

Moralistic Undertone

Often embedded in moral or comedic contexts, the phrase can warn against being too compliant, gullible, or eager to please—lest one become a figure of ridicule rather than respect.

Rhetorical Devices

Metaphor

Casting a person as an ‘ape’ metaphorically reduces them to a figure of entertainment and subordination, conveying humiliation in a single, vivid image.

Social Irony

The phrase often carries ironic reversal—particularly when a person expected to be dominant (like a husband) becomes the butt of the joke, subverting social norms.

Colloquial Sharpness

The idiom is terse and pungent, characteristic of early modern English proverb tradition—well-suited to dramatic or dialogic use for quick, cutting effect.