JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.8/css/jquery.dataTables.min.css">
<script src="https://cdn.datatables.net/1.10.8/js/jquery.dataTables.min.js"></script>
<table>
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Column</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>
                Hello <i>World</i>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
<pre id="errorMsg" style="color:red;border:2px;margin-top:10px">
</pre>

JavaScript

$(document).ready(function() {
    var datatable = $("table").DataTable();
    $("table td i").text("Bob");
    try
    { 
    	datatable.draw();
    }
    catch (ex)
    {
        $("#errorMsg").text(ex.toString());
    }
});