Add event to container
<html> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-1.3.2.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ $("#container").click(function (e) { alert(e.target.tagName); e.preventDefault(); return false; }); }); </script> </head> <body> <body> <div id="container"> <div> <p>a<span>b<em>c</em>d</span>e<em>f</em>g</p> </div> </div> </body> </html>