Historical reference can give additional meaning to behaviors, social organization, rituals, prejudices, taboos and symbols of the culture that informed the author who produced the text. The question of what historical conditions, relationships and influences lie behind a text are central to this mode of interpretation. New Historicism also defines history broadly, not as a chronicle of facts or events, but as a description of human reality in a given time. The time period in which the text is read is also important. Feminist Interpretation considers the portrayal of women in a text, the relationship between men and women, and the question of who is in power.
Feminist interpretation lends itself to combination with New Historicism.