diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 533211bc..74061a67 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ History
 
 Next Release (version TBD)
 --------------------------
+* Feature: Template and View support disabling HTML escape. [cjerdonek]
 * Bugfix: context values no longer processed as template strings. [jakearchibald]
 * API change: pass the context to render to Template.render() instead of
   Template.__init__(). [cjerdonek]
diff --git a/pystache/template.py b/pystache/template.py
index 6b87d076..7a2bc8bf 100644
--- a/pystache/template.py
+++ b/pystache/template.py
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ class Template(object):
 
     modifiers = Modifiers()
 
-    def __init__(self, template=None, load_template=None, output_encoding=None):
+    def __init__(self, template=None, load_template=None, output_encoding=None,
+                 disable_escape=False):
         """
         Construct a Template instance.
 
@@ -85,12 +86,19 @@ def __init__(self, template=None, load_template=None, output_encoding=None):
             loader = Loader()
             load_template = loader.load_template
 
+        self.disable_escape = disable_escape
         self.load_template = load_template
         self.output_encoding = output_encoding
         self.template = template
 
         self._compile_regexps()
 
+    def escape(self, text):
+        return escape(text)
+
+    def literal(self, text):
+        return literal(text)
+
     def _initialize_context(self, context, **kwargs):
         """
         Initialize the context attribute.
@@ -206,7 +214,7 @@ def _render_tags(self, template):
     def _render_dictionary(self, template, context):
         self.context.push(context)
 
-        template = Template(template, load_template=self.load_template)
+        template = Template(template, load_template=self.load_template, disable_escape=self.disable_escape)
         out = template.render(self.context)
 
         self.context.pop()
@@ -236,7 +244,7 @@ def _render_tag(self, tag_name):
             else:
                 return ''
 
-        return escape(raw)
+        return self._render_value(raw)
 
     @modifiers.set('!')
     def _render_comment(self, tag_name):
@@ -245,7 +253,7 @@ def _render_comment(self, tag_name):
     @modifiers.set('>')
     def _render_partial(self, template_name):
         markup = self.load_template(template_name)
-        template = Template(markup, load_template=self.load_template)
+        template = Template(markup, load_template=self.load_template, disable_escape=self.disable_escape)
         return template.render(self.context)
 
     @modifiers.set('=')
@@ -286,6 +294,8 @@ def render(self, context=None, **kwargs):
         """
         self._initialize_context(context, **kwargs)
 
+        self._render_value = self.literal if self.disable_escape else self.escape
+
         result = self._render(self.template)
 
         if self.output_encoding is not None:
diff --git a/pystache/view.py b/pystache/view.py
index 11570697..897444c0 100644
--- a/pystache/view.py
+++ b/pystache/view.py
@@ -88,12 +88,13 @@ def repl(match):
 
         return re.sub('[A-Z]', repl, template_name)[1:]
 
-    def render(self, encoding=None):
+    def render(self, encoding=None, disable_escape=False):
         """
         Return the view rendered using the current context.
 
         """
-        template = Template(self.get_template(), self.load_template, output_encoding=encoding)
+        template = Template(self.get_template(), self.load_template, output_encoding=encoding,
+                            disable_escape=disable_escape)
         return template.render(self.context)
 
     def get(self, key, default=None):
diff --git a/tests/test_examples.py b/tests/test_examples.py
index 63267cc9..20abe882 100644
--- a/tests/test_examples.py
+++ b/tests/test_examples.py
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ def test_unicode_input(self):
     def test_escaped(self):
         self.assertEquals(Escaped().render(), "<h1>Bear &gt; Shark</h1>")
 
+    def test_escaped_disabling(self):
+        self.assertEquals(Escaped().render(disable_escape=True), "<h1>Bear > Shark</h1>")
+
     def test_unescaped(self):
         self.assertEquals(Unescaped().render(), "<h1>Bear > Shark</h1>")
 
diff --git a/tests/test_template.py b/tests/test_template.py
index 71516dff..866e13f0 100644
--- a/tests/test_template.py
+++ b/tests/test_template.py
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@ class TemplateTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     """Test the Template class."""
 
+    def test_init__disable_escape(self):
+        # Test default value.
+        template = Template()
+        self.assertEquals(template.disable_escape, False)
+
+        template = Template(disable_escape=True)
+        self.assertEquals(template.disable_escape, True)
+
     def test_render__unicode(self):
         template = Template(u'foo')
         actual = template.render()
@@ -117,3 +125,37 @@ def test_render__section__lambda__tag_in_output(self):
         context = {'test': (lambda text: '{{hi}} %s' % text)}
         actual = template.render(context)
         self.assertEquals(actual, '{{hi}} Mom')
+
+    def test_render__html_escape(self):
+        context = {'test': '1 < 2'}
+        template = Template('{{test}}')
+
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 &lt; 2')
+
+    def test_render__html_escape_disabled(self):
+        context = {'test': '1 < 2'}
+        template = Template('{{test}}')
+
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 &lt; 2')
+
+        template.disable_escape = True
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 < 2')
+
+    def test_render__html_escape_disabled_with_partial(self):
+        context = {'test': '1 < 2'}
+        load_template = lambda name: '{{test}}'
+        template = Template('{{>partial}}', load_template=load_template)
+
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 &lt; 2')
+
+        template.disable_escape = True
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 < 2')
+
+    def test_render__html_escape_disabled_with_non_false_value(self):
+        context = {'section': {'test': '1 < 2'}}
+        template = Template('{{#section}}{{test}}{{/section}}')
+
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 &lt; 2')
+
+        template.disable_escape = True
+        self.assertEquals(template.render(context), '1 < 2')