作为美国妇女选举权运动时期的重要女作家，凯特·肖邦和薇拉·凯瑟在作品中表达自己对于女性经历与困境的不同解读。然而，尽管二者在处理女性主义主题上有所差异，她们的作品却存在许多相似之处，其中有关艺术与艺术家的主题尤为突出。因此，本文分析了《觉醒》和《云雀之歌》中艺术之于女性主体性建构的作用。研究发现，两部小说都认为艺术对于女性主体性的建立起到了积极作用，但与此同时，艺术也对女性实现全面的自我认知有所限制。作为一种影响，艺术唤醒了女主人公的主体性，让她们发现并珍视自己或是被压抑或是仍未被觉察的个性。同时，艺术还作为一种实践实现了女性主体性，让女主人公得以在艺术中根据自己的选择和判断表达自我并取得职业成就。尽管艺术在主人公的生活中起到了积极作用，两部小说还指出了女性在追求艺术成就的过程中必须面对的限制和牺牲。除去相似之处，两部小说之间还存在一些重要的差异。在《觉醒》中，女主人公的女性主体性与其情感与欲望密切相关，而在《云雀之歌》中，女主人公则以更加理性、更加以目标为导向的方式实现自我。除此之外，与《觉醒》的悲剧结局不同，《云雀之歌》提供了一种更加积极的视角，彻底抹去了艺术创造力与女性身份之间的界限。 

Kate Chopin and Willa Cather are both important female writers during women’s suffrage movement in America who voice their own interpretations of female experience and dilemma in their works in different ways. However, in spite of their differences in dealing with feminist subjects, their works share quite a few similarities, among which the theme related to art and artist manifests itself as an important one. This thesis, therefore, explores the functions of art in the construction of female subjectivity in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Willa Cather’s The Song of the Lark. Both novels present art as contributing to the establishment of female subjectivity while also putting some restraints on the fulfillment of a complete realization of the self at the same time. As influence, art awakens the heroines’ subjectivity by allowing them to notice and treasure their individuality that is either suppressed or undiscovered. Besides, as practice, art fulfills their subjectivity by enabling them to express themselves and make professional achievements based on their own choice and judgment. In spite of the positive roles that art plays in the protagonists’ lives, both novels also point out the limitations and sacrifices that women have to face in their pursuit of artistic achievements. Apart from the similarities between the two novels, there are also significant differences. While in The Awakening the heroine’s female subjectivity is closely associated with her emotions and desires, the heroine in The Song of the Lark turns to more rational and target-oriented means to fulfill her selfhood. What’s more, compared to the tragic ending of The Awakening, The Song of the Lark provides us with a much more positive vision in which the boundary between artistic creativity and the female identity is radically erased.