 <p>There's no need for another method: if your helper extends <code>Zend_View_Helper_Abstract</code> (and it probably does), you can just use its <code>$view</code> property...</p> <pre><code>$this-&gt;view-&gt;escape(...) </code></pre> <p>Otherwise you may implement your own <code>setView</code> method (as described <a href="http://framework.zend.com/manual/1.12/en/zend.view.helpers.html#zend.view.helpers.custom" rel="nofollow">here</a>), which will be called when the helper is instantiated. It usually operates on the same-named property.</p>