WordPressでタイトル取得するところ、ちょっと調べてきたよ。

            <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( 'Permalink to %s', 'twentyeleven' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>

/**
 * Display or retrieve the current post title with optional content.
 *
 * @since 0.71
 *
 * @param string $before Optional. Content to prepend to the title.
 * @param string $after Optional. Content to append to the title.
 * @param bool $echo Optional, default to true.Whether to display or return.
 * @return null|string Null on no title. String if $echo parameter is false.
 */
function the_title($before = '', $after = '', $echo = true) {
        $title = get_the_title();

        if ( strlen($title) == 0 )
                return;

        $title = $before . $title . $after;

        if ( $echo )
                echo $title;
        else
                return $title;
}

/**
 * Sanitize the current title when retrieving or displaying.
 *
 * Works like {@link the_title()}, except the parameters can be in a string or
 * an array. See the function for what can be override in the $args parameter.
 *
 * The title before it is displayed will have the tags stripped and {@link
 * esc_attr()} before it is passed to the user or displayed. The default
 * as with {@link the_title()}, is to display the title.
 *
 * @since 2.3.0
 *
 * @param string|array $args Optional. Override the defaults.
 * @return string|null Null on failure or display. String when echo is false.
 */
function the_title_attribute( $args = '' ) {
        $title = get_the_title();

        if ( strlen($title) == 0 )
                return;

        $defaults = array('before' => '', 'after' =>  '', 'echo' => true);
        $r = wp_parse_args($args, $defaults);
        extract( $r, EXTR_SKIP );


        $title = $before . $title . $after;
        $title = esc_attr(strip_tags($title));

        if ( $echo )
                echo $title;
        else
                return $title;
}

/**
 * Retrieve post title.
 *
 * If the post is protected and the visitor is not an admin, then "Protected"
 * will be displayed before the post title. If the post is private, then
 * "Private" will be located before the post title.
 *
 * @since 0.71
 *
 * @param int $id Optional. Post ID.
 * @return string
 */
function get_the_title( $id = 0 ) {
        $post = &get_post($id);

        $title = isset($post->post_title) ? $post->post_title : '';
        $id = isset($post->ID) ? $post->ID : (int) $id;

        if ( !is_admin() ) {
                if ( !empty($post->post_password) ) {
                        $protected_title_format = apply_filters('protected_title_format', __('Protected: %s'));
                        $title = sprintf($protected_title_format, $title);
                } else if ( isset($post->post_status) && 'private' == $post->post_status ) {
                        $private_title_format = apply_filters('private_title_format', __('Private: %s'));
                        $title = sprintf($private_title_format, $title);
                }
        }
        return apply_filters( 'the_title', $title, $id );
}

function get_the_safety_title( $id = 0 ) {
  return str_replace('<', '&lt;', str_replace('>', '&gt;', get_the_title(&id)));
}