Is there a simple way to switch between using and ignoring metacharacters in Python regular expressions?

Is there a way of toggling the compilation or use of metacharacters when compiling regexes? The current code looks like this: Current code: ``` import re the_value = '192.168.1.1' the_regex = re.compile(the_value) my_collection = ['192a168b1c1', '192.168.1.1'] my_collection.find_matching(the_regex) result = ['192a168b1c1', '192.168.1.1'] ``` The ideal solution would look like: ``` import re the_value = '192.168.1.1' the_regex = re.compile(the_value, use_metacharacters=False) my_collection = ['192a168b1c1', '192.168.1.1'] my_collection.find_matching(the_regex) result = ['192.168.1.1'] ``` The ideal solution would let the `re` library handle the disabling of metacharacters, to avoid having to get involved in the process as much as possible.