diff --git a/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs
index 7b0cfead..7cd318d0 100644
--- a/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs
+++ b/cursive-core/src/utils/markup/cursup.rs
@@ -33,14 +33,36 @@ struct Candidate {
     brace: usize,
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug)]
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 enum Event {
+    StartSkip,
     Start(Style),
     End,
-    StartSkip,
     Resume,
 }
 
+impl PartialOrd for Event {
+    fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> Option<std::cmp::Ordering> {
+        Some(self.cmp(other))
+    }
+}
+
+impl Ord for Event {
+    fn cmp(&self, other: &Self) -> std::cmp::Ordering {
+        match (self, other) {
+            (Event::StartSkip, Event::Start(_) | Event::End | Event::Resume)
+            | (Event::Start(_), Event::End | Event::Resume)
+            | (Event::End, Event::Resume) => std::cmp::Ordering::Less,
+
+            (Event::Start(_) | Event::End | Event::Resume, Event::StartSkip)
+            | (Event::End | Event::Resume, Event::Start(_))
+            | (Event::Resume, Event::End) => std::cmp::Ordering::Greater,
+
+            _ => std::cmp::Ordering::Equal,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Parse spans for the given text.
 pub fn parse_spans(input: &str) -> Vec<StyledIndexedSpan> {
     let mut candidates = Vec::<Candidate>::new();
@@ -63,6 +85,8 @@ pub fn parse_spans(input: &str) -> Vec<StyledIndexedSpan> {
                 events.push((candidate.brace + 1, Event::Start(style)));
                 events.push((i, Event::End));
                 events.push((i + 1, Event::Resume));
+
+                state = State::Plain;
             }
             (State::Plain, _) => (),
 
@@ -89,7 +113,7 @@ pub fn parse_spans(input: &str) -> Vec<StyledIndexedSpan> {
         }
     }
 
-    events.sort_by_key(|(i, _)| *i);
+    events.sort();
 
     let mut spans = Vec::new();
     let mut style_stack = vec![Style::default()];
@@ -255,6 +279,18 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn simple() {
+        let parsed = parse("/{simple}").canonical();
+        assert_eq!(parsed, StyledString::plain("simple"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn escape() {
+        let parsed = parse("/{/}red{foo}").canonical();
+        assert_eq!(parsed, StyledString::plain("/red{foo}"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn hex_color() {
         let parsed = parse("/#ff0000{red}");
diff --git a/cursive-core/src/utils/span.rs b/cursive-core/src/utils/span.rs
index 72204816..1e621d8e 100644
--- a/cursive-core/src/utils/span.rs
+++ b/cursive-core/src/utils/span.rs
@@ -229,7 +229,34 @@ impl<T> SpannedString<T> {
         SpannedString { source, spans }
     }
 
+    /// Compacts and simplifies this string, resulting in a canonical form.
+    ///
+    /// If two styled strings represent the same styled text, they should have equal canonical
+    /// forms.
+    ///
+    /// (The PartialEq implementation for StyledStrings requires both the source and spans to be
+    /// equals, so non-visible changes such as text in the source between spans could cause
+    /// StyledStrings to evaluate as non-equal.)
+    pub fn canonicalize(&mut self)
+    where
+        T: PartialEq,
+    {
+        self.compact();
+        self.simplify();
+    }
+
+    /// Returns the canonical form of this styled string.
+    pub fn canonical(mut self) -> Self
+    where
+        T: PartialEq,
+    {
+        self.canonicalize();
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Compacts the source to only include the spans content.
+    ///
+    /// This does not change the number of spans, but changes the source.
     pub fn compact(&mut self) {
         // Prepare the new source
         let mut source = String::new();
@@ -247,6 +274,36 @@ impl<T> SpannedString<T> {
         self.source = source;
     }
 
+    /// Attemps to reduce the number of spans by merging consecutive similar ones.
+    pub fn simplify(&mut self)
+    where
+        T: PartialEq,
+    {
+        // Now, merge consecutive similar spans.
+        let mut i = 0;
+        while i + 1 < self.spans.len() {
+            let left = &self.spans[i];
+            let right = &self.spans[i + 1];
+            if left.attr != right.attr {
+                i += 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            let (_, left_end) = left.content.as_borrowed().unwrap();
+            let (right_start, right_end) = right.content.as_borrowed().unwrap();
+            let right_width = right.width;
+
+            if left_end != right_start {
+                i += 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            *self.spans[i].content.as_borrowed_mut().unwrap().1 = right_end;
+            self.spans[i].width += right_width;
+            self.spans.remove(i + 1);
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Shrink the source to discard any unused suffix.
     pub fn trim_end(&mut self) {
         if let Some(max) = self
@@ -558,6 +615,19 @@ impl IndexedCow {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Return the `(start, end)` indexes if `self` is `IndexedCow::Borrowed`.
+    pub fn as_borrowed_mut(&mut self) -> Option<(&mut usize, &mut usize)> {
+        if let IndexedCow::Borrowed {
+            ref mut start,
+            ref mut end,
+        } = *self
+        {
+            Some((start, end))
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Returns the embedded text content if `self` is `IndexedCow::Owned`.
     pub fn as_owned(&self) -> Option<&str> {
         if let IndexedCow::Owned(ref content) = *self {