What was going on before 1920 that made everybody faint? Men and women?

Russian writers, French, English, American before 1920 always have characters (men and women) fainting whenever they get the least bit upset. I know women wore tight corsets that made it hard to catch their breath, but that doesn’t explain the men? Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald--its not just for dramatic effect, it was a real part of life. Why?