JQuery .html() usage

Question

Say I have

<div id="controller">
 <div id="first">1</div>
 <div id="second">2</div>
</div>

$('#controller').html().which returns

<div id="first">1</div>
<div id="second">2</div>

How do I get .html() to return

<div id="controller">
 <div id="first">1</div>
 <div id="second">2</div>
</div>

Or is there an alternate function for that?

Answer 1

Wrap it (ie. a clone) inside another parent

$('<div></div>').append($('#controller').clone()).html();

Also, check out a similar question.