Olivia Pope Character Analysis

Olivia Pope is a star in the hit television series, Scandal, which airs on ABC. She is an African American woman; she has no children, single and is career driven. She is a crisis manager for those who are in the political world. As the show progresses, Olivia shows that she is strong, hardworking, loyal, a helper and a fixer. As the show progresses she develops into a character that has personal issues of her own and those watching wonder if she deflecting her own problems and if that is why she is always trying to help others fix theirs. Olivia is someone who goes after it, is not afraid of anyone or anything, and her style is remarkable and exhibits class.

Olivia Pope is a former lawyer and white house correspondent. After quitting her job

as the white house aide, she opened a business where she has hired some of the people that she helped when they were going through a crisis. During the entire first season, Olivia is working on a case about Amanda Tanner, who is a former employee of the white house. She is claiming that she had a relationship with Fitz the president of the Unites States and is carrying his baby. During the second season, it is revealed that the president’s team which includes Olivia was in involved in an electoral fraud. During this season many things are revealed, such as her father’s real job. B613 is a covert government agency that deals with a large number of covert missions specifically torture, and assassinations made to look like suicide. Her father Rowan Pope is the president, Jake the naval officer also works for B613. She is working on different political crisis during this time. During the third season, Olivia thinks her father had something to do with her mother’s death 20 years ago. She believes that her father and the president had the plane that her mother was on 20 years ago shot down. Her team, often referred to as the gladiators who consist of Abby, Quinn and Huck begin working on the case and Olivia becomes the client of her own firm. Olivia and her team learn that her dad has been holding her mother prisoner for 20 years. Also the president’s son died from a mysterious strain of a disease. At the end of the third season her mother escapes and Olivia aides her and learns that her mother is indeed a terrorist. In season 4, Olivia returns from the island with Jake to bury her friend. When she returns she finds out that Abby is working for the white house, Huck is working at electronic repair shop, and Quinn has checked on them all and spent most of her time trying to find Olivia. The President thinks he has found the person responsible for his son’s death. Olivia, Jake and Fitz try to kill Rowan Pope, but fail. Olivia is kidnapped, and the president is forced to start a war in order for the kidnappers to release her. This kidnapper’s leader is the vice president of the United States. NEED TRANSITION
Olivia Pope goes after what she wants no matter the consequences.

For example, she is having an affair with the president of the United States of America. She knows the consequences of the having this affair, but time and time again, she remains physically involved with him. She is a crisis manager and often will have to fight battles that seem to be a lost cause , but because of Olivia’s personality and perseverance that spills over to her team, they are always able to get their client out of any situation not matter how big the problem may be. She wanted to know what happened with her mom and no matter how many times her father told her not to look into it; she continued to search for answers. Even Davis Rosen knows Olivia gets what she wants. In season 4, David Rosen was told that he would no longer be in the running for attorney general. While talking to Abby he states, Olivia pope for all talks about white hats doing good, but she gets whatever she wants she has no loyalty and you are collateral damage. She is a winner and she doesn’t sit around wondering if she played the game the right way. Another example would be, Olivia was contacted by a man in prison for attempting to assassinate the president in the 80’s that president has died of a stroke and he believes that the bullet can prove his innocents. Olivia calls reporters, and puts a bug in their ear about changes his conviction, and in the end she gets the Attorney General to introvertly file chargers for murder.

Even after the president has lost his son and his wife is grieving, Olivia still goes after what she wants the president. This may be a good quality; this can be a bad quality as well, especially when she found things out that for her mentally would have been better not knowing in the first place.
Olivia Pope is not afraid of anything or anyone. This is shown many times during the show. For example, there is a particular scene that stands out. She is talking to her father who is Rowan Pope and David Rosen, who is the district attorney, David is told by Jake which the naval officer who is also involved in B-13 which is a undercover military operation that he will need to lie about a murder that took place:
David Rosen: So exposing Jake, that's a death wish. But taking down the entire organization, that's something within my reach? Me, David Rosen, and my army
of one?
Olivia Pope: Army of two. We'll do it together. Brick by brick, we'll tear that
building down until there's nothing left but a hole in the ground. To do that,
though, we need to be patient. Patient and alive. So instead of standing alone
and turning this into a suicide mission, stand with me and turn this into a
cause. Lose this battle so we can win the war. (kiss kiss bang)
In this scene Olivia is not afraid of anyone, even when she knows this person is capable of having her kilt. Also in this scene Olivia is shown having courage, and she won’t back down, she does all this with class and style.
Olivia Pope’s style is remarkable and exhibits class. When someone thinks of class they are thinking about how someone dresses, how someone communicates and how someone acts. Olivia Popes eludes how someone can dress feminine, but in an appropriate and respectful way. Not once during the show have you seen her dressed in a manner that was less than dignified. This can come from the position she holds and dressing is important, people seem to take you more seriously. The way she communicates is one in a manner that comes off as intelligent. She acts in a professional manner when dealing with her clients and employees. Olivia Pope might exhibit class, but that does not mean her life is in order.
Olivia Pope is one who is considered to have her life in order and one who is career driven.

She goes after what she wants, she is not afraid of anything or anyone and her style is remarkable and exhibits class. As the show progresses you find out that she is having an affair with the president and she is aware of the consequences, but in the end she doesn’t seem to care about those consequences. She is always trying to fix everyone else’s problems/crisis, but many wonder if she is just avoiding having to fix the many problems/crisis she has in her own her life. Overall, her character is one that can be relatable and people can put their self in her shoes in different scenarios throughout the show. Just as Olivia tries to fix everyone else’s problems, some people do the same thing in their own

lives.