diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 01e91c7..3453441 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -372,6 +372,10 @@ parameter must be a string.
   and tags will be replaced with SGR codes (if enabled).
 - **getContent()** - return content, slightly different from `el.content`.
   assume the above formatting.
+- **setText(text)** - similar to `setContent`, but ignore tags and remove escape
+  codes.
+- **getText()** - similar to `getContent`, but return content with tags and
+  escape codes removed.
 - **insertLine(i, lines)** - insert a line into the box's content.
 - **deleteLine(i)** - delete a line from the box's content.
 - **getLine(i)** - get a line from the box's content.
diff --git a/lib/widget.js b/lib/widget.js
index fb076f6..c1c47bc 100644
--- a/lib/widget.js
+++ b/lib/widget.js
@@ -1948,17 +1948,27 @@ Element.prototype.focus = function() {
   return this.screen.focused = this;
 };
 
-Element.prototype.setContent = function(content, noClear) {
+Element.prototype.setContent = function(content, noClear, noTags) {
   if (!noClear) this.clearPos();
   this.content = content || '';
-  this.parseContent();
+  this.parseContent(noTags);
 };
 
 Element.prototype.getContent = function() {
   return this._clines.fake.join('\n');
 };
 
-Element.prototype.parseContent = function() {
+Element.prototype.setText = function(content, noClear) {
+  content = content || '';
+  content = content.replace(/\x1b\[[\d;]*m/g, '');
+  return this.setContent(content, noClear, true);
+};
+
+Element.prototype.getText = function() {
+  return this.getContent().replace(/\x1b\[[\d;]*m/g, '');
+};
+
+Element.prototype.parseContent = function(noTags) {
   if (this.detached) return false;
 
   var width = this.width - this.iwidth;
@@ -1966,13 +1976,18 @@ Element.prototype.parseContent = function() {
       || this._clines.width !== width
       || this._clines.content !== this.content) {
     var content = this.content;
+
     content = content
       .replace(/[\x00-\x08\x0b-\x0c\x0e-\x1a\x1c-\x1f\x7f]/g, '')
       .replace(/\x1b(?!\[[\d;]*m)/g, '')
       .replace(/\r\n|\r/g, '\n')
       .replace(/\t/g, this.screen.tabc)
       .replace(dwidthChars, '?');
-    content = this._parseTags(content);
+
+    if (!noTags) {
+      content = this._parseTags(content);
+    }
+
     this._clines = this._wrapContent(content, width);
     this._clines.width = width;
     this._clines.content = this.content;
@@ -1982,8 +1997,10 @@ Element.prototype.parseContent = function() {
       this._clines.ci.push(total);
       return total + line.length + 1;
     }.bind(this), 0);
+
     this._pcontent = this._clines.join('\n');
     this.emit('parsed content');
+
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -5781,7 +5798,9 @@ var dwidthChars = new RegExp('(['
  * Expose
  */
 
+exports.Node = exports.node = Node;
 exports.Screen = exports.screen = Screen;
+exports.Element = exports.element = Element;
 exports.Box = exports.box = Box;
 exports.Text = exports.text = Text;
 exports.Line = exports.line = Line;