By studying the historical context of a story you can better understand

a. the reason the author out certain information.

b. the historical figures that the characters were based on

c. the author's attitude toward his or her attitude

d. the interests and fears of the intended audience

I think D is the best answer choice. for a work written around the time of the salem witch trials, you can better understand why extreme fear and condemnation of witchcraft might show up, and the author's purpose is a major thing to understand a work. C doesn't really make sense, because historical context is based on facts, so the context doesn't so much help you understand an author's attitude/opinion. B is true to some degree, but D is still a stronger answer as B is somewhat circular; historical context is an inherent part of a historical character? and A doesn't even make sense to me but i personally would go with D